2024 Election Tracker Archive
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Monday, Sept. 30 - Donald Trump to rally in Saginaw County
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will return to Michigan on Thursday for a rally in Saginaw County, according to his campaign.
The former president is expected to speak around 3 p.m. at the Ryder Center for Health and Physical Education at Saginaw Valley State University, which is located in University Center just north of the city of Saginaw.
Trump’s visit will come one day before Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is due in Michigan for an event of her own, highlighting the continued importance both campaigns are placing on the swing state.
While Trump's campaign did not specify what he will talk about, an advisory focused exclusively on the economy and inflation under the Biden-Harris administration.
The rally will be Trump's 12th campaign event in Michigan this year — including two held Friday in Warren and Walker — and his second in Saginaw, a swing county that has voted for the winning presidential candidate in every general election since 2008.
Saginaw County is also part of the 8th Congressional District, where the race to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee has emerged as one of the most competitive races in the state.
Economic worries loom large in the region, according to local voters who recently spoke with Bridge Michigan. Some said they are also feeling burned out by the bitter presidential election.
— Jonathan Oosting
Monday, Sept. 30 - Tim Walz in north Michigan for debate prep — and pumpkins
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz stopped at Pond Hill Farm in Harbor Springs on Sunday for pumpkin bowling, pizza and a turn at the "apple cannon," according to a social media post by the company.
He wasn’t just in northern Michigan for fall revelry, however, or because he was already in Ann Arbor on Saturday for the University of Michigan football game.
Instead, the Minnesota governor has reportedly been in the region to prepare for Tuesday's debate against Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance.
Walz practiced with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who moved to the Traverse City area in 2022. Buttigieg has been standing in for Vance during mock debates and has even wore a red tie to look the part, according to CBS News.
Politicians will often enlist colleagues to stand in for debate opponents in preparation for the real event. In 2008, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm played Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in a mock debate with Joe Biden.
The hardest part, Granholm later said, is "making sure that the stand-in is armed with the toughest facts, the hardest questions, the most uncomfortable issues that the candidate has to be prepared to respond to."
The Tuesday debate between Walz and Vance is set to start at 9 p.m. The 90-minute debate will be hosted by CBS News but will be simulcast on other channels and streamed online. Return to Bridgemi.com to watch it.
Following the debate, Vance is due back in Michigan on Wednesday for campaign events in Auburn Hills and Marne.
— Jonathan Oosting
Sunday, Sept. 29 - Kamala Harris plans Flint event on Friday; two stops for Vance
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is returning to Michigan on Friday, while Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance plans two statewide appearances on Wednesday, according to media reports.
Details about Harris’ campaign stop in Flint weren’t immediately available.
On Wednesday, Vance is set to talk about the economy and taxes at Visioneering in Auburn Hills at 1:30 p.m. and the Berlin Raceway and Entertainment Complex near Grand Rapids at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets are available here for the raceway appearance
Michigan is one of a handful of battleground states that is expected to decide the race for the White House. Campaign visits are intensifying as absentee voting is underway ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Former President Donald Trump made two stops in Michigan on Friday. Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, was in Ann Arbor on Saturday. Vance was in Traverse City on Wednesday.
Harris last appeared in Michigan on Sept. 19, when she appeared with Oprah Winfrey in Farmington Hills for a discussion that was streamed nationwide.
Wednesday, Sept. 25 - RFK Jr. stumping in Clinton County
Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will speak at a town hall-style event in Clinton County this week, according to an announcement by the Michigan Republican Party.
The event is scheduled to start around 8 pm. Thursday at the Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath Township, just north of East Lansing. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Kennedy, who suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Donald Trump, remains on the Michigan ballot after he lost multiple lawsuits to remove his name.
Thursday's event, moderated by conservative media host Steve Gruber, will give Kennedy "a unique platform" to "share his vision, discuss national issues, and engage directly with Michiganders," the Michigan GOP said in a promotion.
A federal judge last week rejected Kennedy's latest Michigan ballot lawsuit, ruling that allowing him to "unilaterally withdraw from the ballot would leave supporters of the Natural Law Party without a candidate."
Kennedy accepted the esoteric state Natural Law Party's nomination in April. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has maintained that state law does not allow her to remove party nominated candidates from the ballot.
Local election clerks will begin mailing absentee ballots to voters on Thursday, the same day Kennedy speaks in Michigan. The one-time Democrat is expected to promote Trump, who will be in Michigan for two separate events on Friday. — Jonathan Oosting
Sunday, Sept. 22 - Trump, Vance in Michigan this week
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, are planning three campaign stops in Michigan this week.
On Sunday, Trump announced two events on Friday: 2 p.m. in Walker near Grand Rapids and a town hall at 6 p.m. in at Macomb County Community College in Warren. Tickets for the town hall are available online.
On Wednesday, Vance is set to make his sixth visit to Michigan with a 7 p.m. Wednesday campaign stop at the Northwestern Michigan Fair inTraverse City.
Last week, Trump had a town hall forum in Flint, while Vance visited Sparta and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was in Farmington Hills.
Friday's visits will mark Trump's 10th trip to Michigan this year and come one day after absentee ballots are set to begin being mailed to voters for the Nov. 5 election.
Tuesday, Sept. 17 - Kwame Kilpatrick touts Donald Trump in Detroit radio ads
The Michigan Republican Party is rolling out new Detroit market radio ads that feature former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick touting Donald Trump for president.
Trump in 2021 commuted Kilpatrick's 28-year prison sentence after he had served roughly six years following conviction on 24 felonies stemming from his time as mayor of Detroit, including mail fraud, wire fraud and racketeering.
Kilpatrick, a former Democrat, has voiced support for Trump multiple times this year, attending a May rally in Saginaw County and speaking at an August Oakland County GOP fundraising dinner.
In the new radio ads, which the Michigan GOP said will air “on stations throughout the Detroit (area) for the next two weeks,” Kilpatrick says the Nov. 5 general election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is about the "survival" of the nation, its children and the economy.
"When people are set against us in war, it matters that you send a firefighter into the room," he says. "I want Trump in the room."
As of August, Kilpatrick reportedly still owed more than $1.5 million in restitution from his corruption conviction and was clashing with federal authorities who contend he has been trying to "delay the inevitable" repayment.
— Jonathan Oosting
Monday, Sept. 16 - Trump Flint event on despite assassination attempt
Two days after what the Secret Service deemed a second assassination attempt against Donald Trump, the former president is still scheduled to appear in Flint on Tuesday for a town hall-style event, his campaign confirmed to Bridge Michigan.
While the event won’t be a proper rally, prior town halls have taken on the air of one, with friendly questions and moderators.
The Dort Financial Center, the venue for Tuesday’s town hall, can seat more than 4,000 attendees.
Genesee County Sheriff Department Maj. Jason Gould told Bridge that "our goal is to make it a safe event for whatever political candidate comes to town."
The Flint event will be moderated by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas and Trump’s former White House press secretary.
Trump held a rally in Grand Rapids as the first public event after the previous assassination attempt in July. He had first addressed the Republican National Convention to accept the nomination before that event, however.
Trump’s campaign has held events in areas with large populations of autoworkers recently, focusing on messages about electric vehicles and the future of the auto industry in a move to peel off support from Democrats.
— Simon Schuster
Sunday, Sept. 15 - Kamala Harris to join Oprah Winfrey in metro Detroit
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris will return to Michigan next week to join Oprah Winfrey at a "Unite for America" livestream, her campaign said.
The event, hosted by Winfrey in collaboration with a group called Win with Black Women, is set for Thursday at 8 p.m. They’ll broadcast from an "undisclosed location" in metro Detroit, according to the Michigan Chronicle.
"Join the two of them and supporters from all across the country for a special night of unity, celebration, and discussion about what’s at stake this November and why voting in this presidential election matters," the Harris campaign said in a Saturday fundraising email.
It'll be Harris' first trip to Michigan since Labor Day. She was also here in early August, when she held a large rally at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus and the following day met with United Auto Workers in Wayne.
Harris’ return will cap a busy week of campaigning in Michigan, a key swing state in the presidential race. Republican nominee Donald Trump will be in Flint on Tuesday, the same day his running mate JD Vance campaigns in Sparta.
Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz campaigned in Grand Rapids and East Lansing last week. — Jonathan Oosting
Thursday, Sept. 12 - JD Vance coming to Sparta
Vice presidential candidate JD Vance will campaign in Sparta on Tuesday, the same day running mate and former President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a town hall-style event in Flint, according to their campaign.
Vance will give remarks on Sept. 17 at 1:30 p.m. at Apple Valley Events. Though the campaign did not say what Vance will talk about, an advisory for the visit heavily focused on illegal immigration and crime.
The upcoming visits by Vance and Trump will mark seven straight weeks of presidential or vice presidential campaign stops in Michigan, underscoring the state’s battleground status.
Thursday, Sept. 12 - Donald Trump to campaign in Flint next week
Former President Donald Trump is returning to Michigan next week for a town hall-style event in Flint, his campaign announced.
The event, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Dort Financial Center, will be moderated by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who also is Trump’s former White House press secretary.
In town hall events, politicians traditionally field questions from attendees in the audience, though in large presidential campaigns, the questions are often pre-screened.
With just two weeks until absentee ballots become available and less than two months until the Nov. 5 election, presidential candidate visits have become frequent in Michigan, where numerous polls have shown Trump in a statistical tie with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Trump has visited four times in the past month, while his vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has also visited repeatedly. Harris was last here on Labor Day for a stop in Detroit, and running mate Tim Walz is due back in Michigan tonight (Sept. 12) and Friday.
Both Harris and Trump have jostled for union auto worker votes. Trump has made doomsaying the transition to electric vehicles a mainstay in his Michigan speeches, arguing it will ultimately cost the state jobs.
Flint, once widely known as “vehicle city,” is home to major automotive plants that employ thousands of workers, though just a small fraction of the number it once employed. Despite its shrinking population, Flint remains one of Michigan’s largest majority-Black cities.
The city is also part of a crucial and competitive congressional race, with Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet and Republican Paul Junge vying to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee. Voters in the district are feeling burned out by the bitter presidential election.
Trump’s event will be held at the Dort Financial Center, a small arena that hosts the Flint Firebirds, a junior ice hockey team. Trump has held several town hall-style events since announcing his reelection campaign in November 2022, including one held by CNN in May 2023 and another a little more than a week ago in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania held by Fox News.
That Sept. 4 event was moderated by commentator Sean Hannity, a Trump ally, and Trump mostly fielded questions from ardent supporters, including Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick.
Harris has not attended a town hall-style event since becoming the Democratic nominee in July. She has faced criticism for holding few interviews and no press conferences since becoming the nominee.
There also has not been a town hall-style presidential debate since 2016, when Hillary Clinton and Trump fielded questions from uncommitted voters. A 2020 town hall debate between then-candidate Joe Biden and Trump was canceled after Trump contracted COVID-19 and refused to participate remotely.
— Simon Schuster
Thursday, Sept. 12 - Engler, Blanchard join bipartisan ‘Democracy Defense’
A bipartisan group of formerly high-ranking Michigan officials said Thursday they’re joining the board of a national organization, known as the Democracy Defense Project, to help protect election integrity across the United States.
Former Republican Gov. John Engler and former Democratic Gov. Jim Blanchard joined ex-U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop, a Republican, and ex-Lt. Gov. John D. Cherry, a Democrat, in unveiling the project and their participation via Zoom.
“The Democracy Defense Project will focus on healing the divide in this country, and in doing so, defend the election process in Michigan,” said Bishop, who currently serves as legal counsel for the state GOP. The new group is not “advocating for one party or one candidate,” he added, but instead is pushing for parties to not “stoke anger and misinformation.”
When asked what that looked like in practice, Cherry said the group hopes to be a “resource” for combating misinformation. Engler added that the group will also assist media outlets to “balance some of the coverage” surrounding election reporting.
The Democracy Defense Project currently operates in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and comprises both former and current elected Republican and Democratic officials. Its efforts, according to the group's website, include fostering greater confidence in election results and increasing voter participation.
The project will additionally use “earned and paid media as part of a national campaign” to raise awareness surrounding “efforts to subvert elections across the country,” according to a release.
“Elections are too important,” Blanchard said, “and all the people who work on them are the anchors of our democracy, and we need to thank them and protect them.”
— Jordyn Hermani
Tuesday, Sept. 10 - Trump, Harris spar about auto jobs
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump briefly sparred about auto workers and manufacturing job losses during their first — and perhaps only — debate before the Nov. 5 election.
Near the end of the debate, Harris touted the endorsement she received from the United Auto Workers union, “who also know that part of building a clean energy economy includes investing in American-made products, American automobiles.”
Harris argued her agenda involves “opening up auto plants, not closing them, like happened under Donald Trump.”
Three automotive plants in Michigan closed during Trump’s presidency, while Stellantis also opened a plant in Detroit in 2020.
Trump countered that what the Biden administration has ”done to business and manufacturing in this country is horrible.”
"We'll put tariffs on those cars so they can't come into our country, because they will kill the United Auto Workers and any auto worker, whether it's in Detroit or South Carolina or any other place,” Trump said, referring to Chinese electric vehicles.
Trump asserted “they lost 10,000 manufacturing jobs this last month.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported employment in the automotive industry as a whole nationwide declined by a little less than 6,000 between July and August, while manufacturing in all sectors declined by 34,000 in the same time.
In August, Stellantis announced it would lay off up to 2,500 union employees from its Warren Truck Assembly as it ends production of the RAM 1500 truck.
Still, manufacturing jobs are up by 739,000 through August since President Joe Biden entered office — in the ballpark but not quite the 800,000 jobs Harris claimed.
As of July, Michigan was home to about 46,700 vehicle manufacturing jobs, up from 41,500 when Biden took office in January 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Vehicle manufacturing job numbers were effectively flat under Trump.
The future of the U.S. auto industry is a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign in Michigan, where he has said the future of the U.S. auto industry hinges on his reelection.
Bridge has previously scrutinized claims about EV mandates, and battery manufacturer Gotion as both campaign vie for the votes of union autoworkers, a crucial voting bloc.
Harris and Trump are in a dead heat in Michigan. Every reputable, public poll that’s been published since mid-August shows the two candidates in a statistical tie, reporting either Harris or Trump no more than 5 percentage points ahead of the other.
Absentee ballots will be mailed to voters in Michigan starting Sept. 26. — Simon Schuster
Tuesday, Sept. 10 - Rogers, Slotkin will debate twice
Michigan U.S. Senate candidates Mike Rogers and Elissa Slotkin have agreed to two debates next month ahead of the November general election.
Slotkin, a Democrat who currently represents Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, and Republican Mike Rogers, a former member of Congress, are in a close race to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
The pair are first scheduled to face off on a debate stage at 7 p.m. Oct. 8 in Grand Rapids and will be hosted by WOOD TV8, the news organization announced Tuesday.
Detroit-based WXYZ-TV is scheduled to host the candidates for a second debate on Oct. 14. — Lauren Gibbons
Monday, Sept. 9 - RFK Jr. on ballot, court rules
Former 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on the ballot in Michigan in November after the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision to remove his name.
The high court’s Monday ruling ended a back-and-forth legal battle stemming from Kennedy’s quest to take his own name off the ballot in multiple states.
Kennedy, who the Michigan Natural Law Party nominated as their presidential candidate in April, dropped out of the race last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump, a Republican.
State officials initially told Kennedy that Michigan election law does not allow candidates to remove their names from the ballot once a party has nominated them and it is after the state primary.
The Court of Claims agreed, finding minor party candidates cannot withdraw from the ballot once nominated at convention, but a three-judge Court of Appeals panel — all of whom were nominated by Republicans — reversed that decision, arguing the state had “no ability to disregard” his request.
A majority of Michigan Supreme Court justices disagreed, finding in their Monday opinion that Kennedy hadn’t met state requirements to warrant the “extraordinary” request. The court order didn’t specify how each justice voted, though justices nominated by the Democratic Party currently hold a 4-3 majority.
Justice Elizabeth Welch, a Democratic Party nominee, wrote a concurring opinion criticizing the Court of Appeals’ decision. She noted that Kennedy’s request to remove himself from the ballot more than four months after his nomination would complicate both the Secretary of State’s ballot printing process and the Natural Law Party’s ability to field a candidate.
“Given plaintiff’s delay and the effects thereof, it is unclear to me that plaintiff had a “clear, legal right to” relief,” wrote Welch.
Justices Brian Zahra and David Viviano dissented, arguing that removing Kennedy from the ballot would make the most sense to voters now that he’s no longer running.
The two Republican nominees argued leaving Kennedy’s name could confuse voters and contribute to distrust in U.S. voting systems.
“There is no practical reason for denying a request to withdraw before the ballots have been printed for the general election,” the justices wrote. “There is, however, a significant cost to the integrity of the election: the voters will be improperly denied a choice between persons who are actually candidates, and who are willing to serve if elected.”
The head of the Natural Law Party previously said he would not support efforts to remove Kennedy's name because doing so would jeopardize the party's ballot access in future years. — Lauren Gibbons
Friday, Sept. 6 - RFK Jr. wins appeal to get off ballot; State to appeal
The Michigan Department of State must remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former 2024 presidential candidate, from the state’s general election ballot, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
Laws that state election officials cited in denying Kennedy’s removal from the ballot do “not apply” to presidential candidates, the three-judge panel wrote in their unanimous opinion, adding the state had “no ability to disregard” his request.
The move reverses a Court of Claims decision earlier this week which stated minor party candidates cannot withdraw from the ballot once nominated at convention.
Kennedy, who the Michigan Natural Law Party nominated as their presidential candidate in April, sought his own removal from the ballot after dropping out of the race last month and endorsing former President Donald Trump, a Republican.
In a message sent to Bridge Michigan, Secretary of State spokesperson Angela Benander confirmed the office was appealing Friday's decision to the state Supreme Court.
Kennedy polled at roughly five percent in a recent survey of Michigan voters by Glengariff Inc.
Despite those modest numbers, "this is an incredibly significant ruling," Oakland University political science professor Dave Dulio wrote on social media."Even small shifts from one candidate to another — which this will likely produce — can have major implications for the final outcome."
— Jordyn Hermani
Friday, Sept. 6 - Presidential ads flooding metro Detroit
Already getting sick of political ads?
Bad news: A lot more are coming in the next two months, especially in Detroit, where presidential campaigns and outside groups have already booked more than $53 million in additional airtime between now and Nov. 5.
That's according to AdImpact, a firm that tracks ad spending nationwide.
The Detroit media market — which includes suburbs — ranks third in the country for presidential-race ad reservation spending, according to the firm, trailing only Philadelphia and Atlanta in fellow swing states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Nationally, Democrats are so far outspending Republicans. The Kamala Harris campaign and aligned FF PAC have booked a combined $324 million in ads, according to AdImpact. The Donald Trump campaign and MAGA Inc. have booked a combined $125 million in ads.
The economy is the most common issue in campaign ads run so far by both presidential campaigns. About 88% of all Trump ads have been "negative," according to AdImpact, compared to 44% for Harris.
— Jonathan Oosting
Thursday, Sept. 5 - U-M Regent candidate sues Michigan Democratic Party
An activist and lawyer seeking a spot on the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents filed suit against the state Democratic Party on Thursday, alleging she lost her bid due to “voting discrepancies.”
Huwaida Arraf was one of three candidates seeking two Democratic nominations in the party’s August convention. A Palestinian American and vocal proponent of ending the ongoing war in Gaza, Arraf’s campaign was supported by various students and staff at the university.
She lost the convention race, but in filing suit in Ingham County Circuit Court, suggested larger “civil rights” and “constitutional issues here at play.”
A spokesperson with the Michigan Democratic Party said the organization was “waiting to review the complaint” and would be “following the proper legal process.”
In a Zoom call with reporters, Arraf alleged there were over 170 more votes cast in the board race than credentialed convention voters. She also suggested people were able to continue voting in the race after its 4:39 p.m. deadline.
The Michigan Democratic Party uses a weighted formula for votes by county based on local turnout in the prior even-year election. Arraf said she didn’t have an issue with the formula but argued under a standard tally, she would have outperformed the other regent candidates and been on the 2024 ballot.
Arraf also said she’d tried to communicate with party leadership over the issues, but was left with more questions than answers, saying that underscored a “lack of transparency” in the nomination process.
"We had the option, and still do ... to take this to federal court on a lot of the constitutional issues and problems that we encountered," Arraf said, adding that while she hoped that won’t happen, "if you don't feel like your voice and your participation will count, then there will be no incentive to get involved."
— Jordyn Hermani
Thursday, Sept. 5 - RFK Jr. appeals to get off ballot
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to order his name removed from the state's Nov. 5 general election ballot as the presidential nominee of the Natural Law Party.
A Court of Claims judge on Tuesday quickly rejected Kennedy's initial request, ruling that state law makes clear minor party candidates cannot withdraw once nominated at convention.
But in a Thursday appeal, his attorneys argue the statute should not apply to presidential candidates like Kennedy, who ended his campaign last month and endorsed Republican Donald Trump.
Leaving him on the ballot "would threaten election integrity as ballot printing and distribution is imminent," attorney Eric Esshaki wrote in the appeal.
A three-judge Michigan Court of Appeals panel on Thursday morning granted Kennedy's motion for immediate consideration and signaled they may rule later in the day.
The head of the esoteric Natural Law Party previously said he will not support efforts to remove Kennedy's name because doing so would jeopardize the party's ballot access in future years.
To maintain a regular slot on the ballot, minor parties must get enough votes to equal 1% of the total votes that the last successful candidate for Michigan Secretary of State got in their own last election.
— Jonathan Oosting
Tuesday, Sept. 4 - Joe Biden to visit Ann Arbor on Friday
President Joe Biden will visit Ann Arbor on Friday to speak at a union training center, the White House confirmed Wednesday.
Biden is expected to deliver remarks about 3:15 p.m. at the Jackson Road facility of the UA Local 190, which represents plumbers, pipefitters, service technicians and gas distribution workers.
The visit is a White House event — not a campaign stop — for Biden, a Democrat who in July ended his re-election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
The president is expected to discuss his ongoing economic agenda, including investments made through major federal laws like the CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act.
On the campaign front, Gwen Walz, the wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, is scheduled to join the Michigan Education Association for an event in Grand Rapids on Wednesday evening, Sept. 4.
— Jonathan Oosting
Tuesday, Sept. 3 - Judge rejects RFK Jr.’s ballot removal suit
A Michigan judge on Tuesday quickly rejected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to force the removal of his name from the state’s Nov. 5 ballot.
“Elections are not just games, and the Secretary of State is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office,” Judge Christopher Yates wrote in his ruling, noting state officials “acted well within the bounds of the law” when denying Kennedy’s initial request to be removed.
Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race on Aug. 23 and endorsed Republican Donald Trump. But Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office previously said it could not remove him from the ballot because the Natural Law Party had nominated him for the post in April.
Yates’ decision came just hours after the Kennedy campaign initially filed suit.
Attorney Eric Esshaki had argued that keeping Kennedy’s name on the Nov. 5 ballot would “serve only to mislead voters” and could “upend election and ballot integrity.”
Kennedy had sought a “speedy hearing” on the matter, “because the printing of the ballots is imminent” with absentee ballots set to go out later this month, the attorney noted.
Esshaki had also claimed Kennedy sent “adequate notice to the state of Michigan” on Aug. 30 to keep his name off the ballot. Not honoring the request, he added, would inaccurately reflect who is running for president in the state.
State officials previously told Kennedy Michigan election law does not allow candidates to remove their names from the ballot once a party has nominated them and it is after the state primary.
The head of the esoteric Natural Law Party previously said he will not support efforts to remove Kennedy's name because doing so would jeopardize the party's ballot access in future years.
To maintain a regular slot on the ballot, minor parties must get enough votes to equal 1% of the total votes that the last successful candidate for Michigan Secretary of State got in their own last election.
Benson got 2,467,859 votes in 2022, meaning the Natural Law Party would need 24,679 votes for Kennedy to maintain its spot on the Michigan ballot.
— Jordyn Hermani
Friday, Aug. 30 - Harris campaign courts social media stars in Detroit
In an era where online attention is currency, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is recruiting online creators to spread the campaign’s message on their social media platforms.
The Harris-Walz campaign held a Thursday mixer for social media influencers at Cred Cafe in Detroit. Attendees said posts on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube are the primary news source for a younger generation that stays politically engaged through online conversations. The campaign is tapping the expertise of young voters who are fluent in intertwining political advocacy and culture.
“There’s a lot of noise right now, a lot of chaos, but we in this room have the opportunity to break through and bridge that gap between what’s cool and consciousness,” said U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Florida. Frost, 27, is the youngest member of Congress and the first elected from Generation Z.
It’s a symbiotic relationship. For campaigns, influencers are a direct conduit to large audiences of young voters. For content creators, associating with Harris can give them exclusive access, legitimizing and amplifying their profiles. Frost said the campaign puts authenticity at the forefront, they’re not prescribing how people should post.
“Please use your platform in the way you see fit,” Frost said. “It’s going to look different for everybody. There’s creators here who want to use humor and comedy to activate people. There’s creators who give people straight-up information. Something different will activate different people. Everybody learns differently.”
Read more of this story by Malachi Barrett at Bridge Detroit
Thursday. Aug 29 - Watch Donald Trump speech in Potterville
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spoke about the economy and inflation — and several other topics — Thursday afternoon in Potterville. Watch his full Michigan speech here:
It was Trump's third campaign event in Michigan in nine days, following a Monday speech at a National Guard conference in Detroit and remarks on crime and safety last week in Howell.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is slated to campaign in Detroit on Monday for Labor Day.
Her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, campaigned for Harris earlier Thursday in Grand Rapids, where he touted recent reports identifying Michigan as "number one" for planned projects funded through the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which Harris cast the tie-breaking vote for as vice president.
Harris "is the only candidate on the ballot who is creating a future that works for everyday Americans" and "one where middle class families get ahead," Emhoff said, noting some of her recent proposals, including a plan to crack down on what she has called grocery price gouging.
Trump and other critics have likened that plan to "communist price controls," but Emhoff pushed back on that characterization.
"She's pro-capitalism, pro-business, pro-growth and pro-innovation," he said of Harris. "She wants everyone to succeed in this economy."
— Jonathan Oosting
Wednesday, August 28 - More absentee than in-person votes in Michigan primary
Absentee ballots continue to be a popular option for Michigan voters, according to August primary election results certified this week.
Roughly 2 million Michigan voters cast ballots in the primary, and about 1.2 million (60%) of those were absentee, Michigan Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater said at a meeting of the Board of State Canvassers.
Among in-person votes, about 70,000 happened ahead of Election Day under new rules requiring local clerks to offer at least nine days of early voting.
"In terms of what that means for November, it's hard to say," Brater said.
"I do think that we're likely to have significantly more in-person early voting, as well as absentee voting, with both major parties and others doing a lot of get-out-the-vote efforts surrounding the presidential election and the other races."
Early in-person voting numbers for the August primary were actually down from the roughly 73,000 early votes in Michigan’s February presidential primary, which had an overall turnout of about 1.8 million voters.
Turnout — and absentee voting — were also down compared to the August 2020 primary, which was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. About 2.5 million Michigan voters cast ballots in that election, including 1.6 million absentee.
— Jonathan Oosting
Tuesday, Aug. 27 - Kamala Harris plans Detroit Labor Day stop
Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Detroit on Monday for a Labor Day event, her presidential campaign confirmed.
Details of the event were not released, but unions — whose members are a key voting bloc — hold an annual parade through Detroit on Labor Day morning, a tradition that goes back to 1915.
Democratic politicians have been a fixture at the event.
President Joe Biden spoke at the Detroit parade in 2014, when he was serving as vice president. Then-President Barack Obama spoke in 2011. And former President Bill Clinton walked in the parade in 2016 as his wife, Hillary Clinton, ran for president.
Harris’ planned visit is the latest in a flurry of Michigan stops by the Democratic presidential nominee and her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, who are neck-and-neck in the state, according to the latest polling averages.
Trump was in Detroit on Monday, and he’ll be back in Michigan on Thursday for a campaign event in Potterville. Harris last visited Michigan in early August, when she held a large rally at Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus and then spoke to United Auto Workers union members in Wayne.
According to the White House, after her visit to Detroit, Harris will continue Labor Day by joining Biden for an event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, another crucial battleground state in the upcoming presidential election.
— Simon Schuster
Tuesday, Aug. 27 - Kamala Harris’ husband to campaign in Grand Rapids
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' husband is scheduled to visit west Michigan this week as part of his wife's presidential campaign.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is due in Grand Rapids on Thursday, according to the campaign, which did not immediately release additional details about the event.
Emhoff’s planned visit would come the same day as former President Donald Trump, again the Republican nominee, plans to campaign in Potterville, a small city in mid-Michigan's Eaton County.
— Jonathan Oosting
Monday, Aug. 26 - Cornel West back on Michigan ballot
Independent presidential candidate Cornel West is heading back on the Michigan ballot after a state judge on Saturday overturned his removal.
The Michigan Bureau of Elections had disqualified West after determining his candidate affidavit of identity was not properly notarized.
But those affidavits aren't required for presidential candidates, so an error cannot be used to exclude West and his running mate Melina Abdullah, Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford ruled Saturday.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater "misapplied the law in finding otherwise," Redford wrote in his 20-page opinion.
In oral arguments on Friday, Redford acknowledged his prospective decision would likely be appealed to higher court but said he would rule quickly given the limited time before the Nov. 5 general election.
For now, the state must qualify West for the ballot, Redford ruled, on the condition that the Board of State Canvassers approves West's nominating petitions. The bipartisan board did so Monday.
Bureau of Elections staff recommended canvassers certify West's nominating petitions, estimated he submitted 16,089 valid voter signatures — more than the 12,000 required to make the ballot. Multiple groups had challenged West's signatures, however.
— Jonathan Oosting
Saturday, Aug. 24 - Trump, Vance returning for separate campaign events
Former president Donald Trump will make two visits in Michigan next week, and his vice presidential nominee, JD Vance will make stop as well.
According to their campaign, both Trump and Vance are scheduled to deliver remarks on the “economy, inflation and manufacturing” two days apart.
Vance is slated to speak in Big Rapids Tuesday, while Trump will deliver remarks in Potterville on Thursday.
Big Rapids is near Green township, the site of a proposed $2.4 billion Gotion electric vehicle battery plant that has drawn the ire of conservatives who have warned of connections between the company and the Chinese government.
Trump is also visiting Detroit on Monday to speak to a National Guard Association conference.
In Trump’s last rally in Grand Rapids July 20, he had said he supports Chinese auto manufacturing provided it takes place on U.S. soil.
"If they want to come in and sell us cars they can, but they have to build plants here and they have to hire our workers and that's fine. Nobody can say anything,” Trump said at that rally.
Last week, though, Trump issued a statement saying he opposes the Gotion project, specifically.
He also delivered remarks on crime in Howell last Tuesday flanked by Republican sheriffs.
—Simon Schuster
Thursday, Aug. 22 - Trump returning to Detroit for National Guard conference
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will return to Michigan on Monday to address a National Guard Association conference in Detroit, his campaign announced.
The conference is set to take place at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit.
A time for Trump's speech has not yet been announced.
It will be the former president’s second visit to Michigan in as many weeks. He spoke about crime and safety — and several other topics — Tuesday in Howell.
— Jonathan Oosting
Thursday, Aug. 22 - Watch Nessel praise Harris, Buttigieg speak at DNC
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Wednesday praised Vice President Kamala Harris for refusing to uphold California’s gay marriage ban as the state’s attorney general.
“We know when she takes an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, she's actually read it,” Nessel said.
Michigan had a similar ban on same-sex marriage, and Nessel got married after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned such bans.
“I’ve got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the United States Supreme Court," Nessel said. "You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay hand, and I’m retaining a lot of water, so good luck with that.”
Also Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg — who lives in Traverse City with his husband — called for an end of the “politics of darkness” that he says are embodied by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“The makeup of my kitchen table, the existence of my family is just one example of something that was literally impossible as recently as 25 years ago when an anxious teenager growing up in Indiana wondered if he would ever find belonging in this world,” he said.
Two more Michigan Democrats, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin who is running for U.S. Senate, are expected to address the convention on Thursday before Harris’ speech. It is the final day of the convention.
Wednesday, Aug. 21 - Democrats 'know how to win,' Whitmer says
Michigan Democrats "know how to win," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday night as the state's delegates cast ceremonial votes for presidential nominee Kamala Harris at the party's national convention in Chicago.
Whitmer, who will reportedly speak on stage Thursday at the convention, was joined in the roll call vote by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes.
The trio attempted, with some difficulty and laughs, to announce the delegate vote in unison after Michigan was introduced to the sound of Eminem's "Lose Yourself."
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters took the stage earlier Tuesday, the latest in a series of Michigan convention speakers expected to culminate with Thursday speeches by Whitmer and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running to replace Stabenow in the U.S. Senate.
Peters touted his own union roots and referenced Teamsters President Sean O'Brien's recent speech at the Republican National Convention, where GOP delegates nominated Donald Trump and JD Vance for president and vice president.
"If they win, working people like my friends from the Teamsters will pay the price," Peters said, warning of conservative proposals he said would "gut overtime pay," health care and give tax breaks to the rich.
"We cannot let that happen, and we will not let that happen."
Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama headlined the convention on Tuesday night. Watch their speeches below.
— Jonathan Oosting
Tuesday, Aug. 20 - Watch Donald Trump campaign event in Howell
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was back in Michigan on Tuesday to deliver remarks on "crime and safety" today at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office in Howell.
Watch the former president's full speech here:
Tuesday, Aug. 19 - Watch McMorrow, Fain at DNC; Whitmer on ‘The Daily Show’
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow railed against Project 2025, while United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain railed against Donald Trump and Stellantis NV in Monday speeches at the Democratic National Convention.
McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, held up an oversized book version of Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint that she called “a plan to turn Donald Trump into a dictator.”
Trump has disavowed and publicly criticized the plan, but several of his former administration officials were involved in the drafting.
Fain, the union leader who has publicly sparred with Trump for months, used his speech to rail against the former president and urge support for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
At one point he quoted "the great American poet, Nelly," a rapper, saying “it’s getting hot in here” as he removed his blazer to reveal a "Trump is a scab" T-shirt.
Fain also criticized "corporate greed" and blasted Stellantis over plans for its Belvidere plant in Illinois.
President Joe Biden grew emotional in his Monday night convention speech, where he was joined by his family as he reflected on his career and tenure.
“I made a lot of mistakes in my career," said Biden, who ended his re-election campaign in July and endorsed Harris. "But I gave my best to you for 50 years. Like many of you, I give my heart and soul to our nation.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is also at the Democratic convention this week, stepped onto a different stage Monday night as a guest on Comedy Central's “The Daily Show.”
Among other things, Whitmer discussed her feuds with Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic and the foiled plot to kidnap and kill her. "They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," she said.
The governor also joked about playing in the Gus Macker basketball tournament in high school and losing a tooth before a game while eating a Tootsie Roll.
— Jonathan Oosting
Monday, Aug. 19 - Mallory McMorrow, Shawn Fain among DNC speakers
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, will be the first elected official from Michigan to address the 2024 Democratic National Convention as it opens in Chicago Monday.
McMorrow will take part in a larger slate of convention programming focusing on Project 2025, a “wish list” of ultraconservative initiatives that aims to fundamentally reshape the federal government, according to a list of scheduled speakers released earlier in the day by the DNC.
The Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, has disavowed Project 2025 as part of the “radical right” and claimed ignorance over it, but recent reports have threatened to undermine Trump’s claims.
Vice President Kamala Harris has already officially won the Democratic presidential nomination in an online vote tallied Aug. 5, but the four-day convention is set to serve as a theatrical transition from former presumptive nominee President Joe Biden, who less than a month ago decided to bow out of his reelection effort and endorsed Harris.
Biden is listed as the evening’s closing speaker.
McMorrow, who was first elected to the state Senate in 2018, gained national political spotlight for a 2021 speech, delivered from the chamber floor, responding to a Republican senator who falsely accused her of wanting to “groom and sexualize” children in a fundraising email.
McMorrow’s exhortation in that speech, “we will not let hate win,” has become something of a slogan for the legislator, naming both a political action committee and a forthcoming book “Hate Won’t Win.”
Monday night programming is expected to begin at 5:15 p.m. McMorrow is scheduled to speak during the convention’s 8 p.m. hour, a staffer for McMorrow told Bridge.
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain is also named as a speaker. Fain’s union has endorsed Harris and will be speaking after McMorrow in the evening’s lineup.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a national co-chair of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, wrote on X Sunday, “I couldn’t be more excited to kick off the (convention) this week,” but it wasn’t immediately clear if or when she would be addressing the full convention. Whitmer was a speaker on the first night of the 2020 convention.
The DNC has not yet announced a full list of the week’s speakers. Whitmer was not included on Monday’s schedule.
— Simon Schuster
Saturday, Aug. 17 - Donald Trump returning for Howell campaign event
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will return to Michigan on Tuesday for a campaign even in Howell, his campaign announced.
The former president will deliver remarks on "crime and safety," his campaign said. The event is scheduled at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office at 3 p.m.
"The people of Michigan and the rest of the country can’t take another four years of weak, soft-on-crime leadership," his campaign said in a statement referencing Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the Democratic presidential nominee.
It'll be the second public safety campaign event in Michigan this month by the Trump campaign. Running mate JD Vance also focused on crime in a Shelby Township speech in early August.
Violent crime spiked in Michigan and across the country early in the COVID-19 pandemic but has decreased since.
Detroit, the state's largest city, ended 2023 with the fewest reported homicides in 57 years. Across Michigan, violent crime dropped 7.3% in 2022, the most recent year for which statewide data is available.
Harris also campaigned earlier this month in Michigan, where running mate Tim Walz claimed "violent crime was up during Donald Trump's presidency — and that's not even counting the crimes that he committed."
National violent crime rates fell Trump's first three years in office but climbed in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, making Walz's clam "half true," according to Politifact.
Howell, where Trump will campaign, is is the seat of Livingston County, which Trump won by more than 22 percentage points in his 2020 election loss.
— Jonathan Oosting
Friday, Aug. 16 - State investigating alleged voter fraud in Macomb County
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says she’s referred four possible cases of voter fraud in Macomb County to Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office for further investigation and potential criminal charges.
Benson thanked Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini in a statement for making her office aware of the potential voter fraud, noting the act is “rare, and that when it happens, we catch it and prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law.”
Earlier this week, Forlini told the Detroit News four individuals possibly double voted — or cast an absentee ballot while also voting in person on Election Day — during Michigan’s Aug. 6 primary election.
While Forlini said the double voting wasn’t indicative of “widespread fraud,” it is still a felony-level crime. A clerk in St. Clair Shores first made him aware of the alleged double voting, with Forlini then forwarding on the concerns to both Benson and Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido.
Though possible for voter fraud to occur, it still remains extremely rare both in Michigan and across the country. A review by the Washington Post found just 31 credible instances of voter fraud out of the more than 1 billion ballots cast between 2000 to 2014.
— Jordyn Hermani
Thursday, Aug. 15 - Vance defends Trump strike comments
Speaking in west Michigan on Wednesday, Donald Trump’s running mate defended the Republican presidential nominee’s recent comments about firing striking workers that prompted a federal complaint from the United Auto Workers.
"Trump was not talking about firing Michigan auto workers," JD Vance said at a campaign event in Byron Center. "He was talking about firing the employees of Twitter who used their power to censor American citizens."
Trump's controversial comments came Monday during a discussion with Elon Musk, who in 2022 bought Twitter and renamed it X. Musk is also CEO of Tesla, a Texas-based automaker that does not use union labor.
"I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, 'That's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone,’” Trump told Musk.
It’s illegal to fire workers because of a strike or threat of a strike.
The Detroit-based UAW responded Monday by filing labor charges against Trump and Musk with the National Labor Relations Board. Michigan Democrats also criticized Trump for the comments, including U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
"Bottom line, Donald Trump and JD Vance will never miss an opportunity to screw workers," Stabenow said Wednesday ahead of Vance's visit to west Michigan.
But speaking with reporters after his speech in Byron Center, Vance said Trump was talking about Twitter, which under previous ownership had permanently suspended Trump's account following riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, citing "risk of further incitement of violence."
"If you censor Americans from exercising their First Amendment rights, you absolutely should be fired," Vance said.
— Jonathan Oosting
Wednesday, Aug. 14 - Democrats raising big bucks for state Supreme Court
Michigan Supreme Court races are heating up in advance of state party conventions this month — and the presumptive Democratic nominees for both the full and partial terms up for grabs this year have a fundraising edge.
Incumbent Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, an appointee of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, will be on the ballot this fall to determine whether she’ll remain on the bench to finish out the remainder of former Chief Justice Bridget McCormack’s term.
Voters will also decide who will replace incumbent Justice David Viviano, who is not seeking reelection this fall.
State Supreme Court seats are technically nonpartisan, but nominees for the general election ballot are selected at state party conventions.
New campaign finance filings for the seven candidates seeking nominations from their respective parties show Bolden is well ahead of the rest of the field, raising just over $1.1 million this year and reporting more than $920,000 in the bank.
Kimberly Ann Thomas, the only candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for the full-term vacancy, followed close behind, raising nearly $827,000. Of that, the campaign has a little over $764,000 still available to spend.
Major donations for both Democrats came from political action committees tied to labor unions and elected officials, including the Michigan Legacy PAC founded by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Building Bridges PAC tied to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the SEIU of Michigan PAC and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist’s Stand Tall PAC.
On the Republican side, multiple candidates are seeking nominations for both the full and partial terms on the ballot.
With 10 days to go before the state GOP convention, state Rep. Andrew Fink led the Republican field in fundraising. He pulled in slightly more than $83,000 (including large donations from business leader J.C. Huizenga, former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and her husband, Daniel Hibma) and reported roughly $18,000 in cash on hand.
His competitor for the full term nomination, Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra, raised roughly $35,000 — including $20,000 of his own money as well as big donations from former GOP chair Ron Weiser and former Attorney General Mike Cox. He had $7,000 left in the bank.
Among the three Republicans seeking the chance to challenge Bolden for the partial term, Branch County Circuit Court Judge Patrick William O’Grady has the financial advantage ahead of the convention, putting in $7,000 of his own funds and raising a total of $22,000 with about $5,000 left to spend.
Attorney Alexandria Taylor has largely self-funded her campaign and reported having roughly $7,500 to spend going into the convention. And attorney Matthew DePerno, a Trump loyalist currently battling felony charges for his role in an alleged voting machine tampering scheme, has raised $136.44 from three donors since announcing his campaign and has roughly $50 left to spend.
— Lauren Gibbons
Tuesday, Aug. 13 - Kilpatrick speaking to GOP
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will be a "featured speaker" at an Oakland County Republican Party fundraiser this month, the local party chair announced Tuesday.
Kilpatrick is a longtime Democrat who earlier this year endorsed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who as president in 2021 commuted Kilpatrick's 28-year prison sentence after he’d served roughly six years.
In 2013, Kilpatrick was convicted of 24 felonies stemming from his time as mayor of Detroit, including mail fraud, wire fraud and racketeering.
He's now set to speak at the Oakland County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner on Aug. 21 in Novi, according to Chair Vance Patrick.
“He has a great story of redemption and ministry,” Patrick wrote on social media, where he announced Kilpatrick as a speaker and responded to criticism.
Ben Carson, a Detroit native who served under Trump as U.S. Director of Housing and Urban Development, is slated to headline the event.
Tickets start at $125, or $200 for a meet-and-greet with Carson.
— Jonathan Oosting
Tuesday, Aug. 13 - UAW files complaint against Donald Trump, Elon Musk over X chat
The United Auto Workers said Tuesday it has filed federal labor charges with the National Labor Relations Board against former president Donald Trump and Elon Musk, owner of the social media company X.
In a Monday night interview with Musk on the social media platform, Trump seemed to praise the act of firing employees who threaten to strike, which is illegal under federal law.
"I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, 'That's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone,’” Trump said during the conversation with Musk.
Musk is also CEO of Tesla, a Texas-based electric vehicle company that does not use union labor.
UAW president Shawn Fain, in a statement announcing the charges, called the comments “disgusting, illegal and totally predictable.”
“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean,” said Fain, who has publicly feuded with Trump on multiple occasions.
Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes told Axios the filing is "a shameless political stunt intended to erode President Trump's overwhelming support among America's workers.”
The union has endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for president.
– Lauren Gibbons
Monday, Aug. 12 - Trump campaign falsely claims ‘fake’ Harris crowd
Former President Donald Trump is falsely claiming photos taken last week at Vice President Kamala Harris’ metro Detroit rally were created using artificial intelligence in an effort to boost the appearance of crowd size.
His claim came after the Harris campaign said the airport hangar rally had been her most well attended event yet, with an estimated 15,000 supporters on hand.
Bridge Michigan attended the Wednesday rally and, while unable to verify the 15,000 amount specifically, did observe thousands of people who gathered at the hangar in order to hear Harris and other Democrats speak.
A freelance photographer working for Bridge also took similar photos to the image Trump claimed is fake. The photos show comparable crowd sizes to the image that spurred conspiracy theories echoed by Trump.
At least a dozen people in the crowd required medical attention due to the hot temperatures within the hangar.
A DJ starts doing roll call at the Harris/Walz Detroit rally, asking each generation to “sound off” if they’re in attendance.
— Jordyn Hermani (🔈: "HermanE”) (@JordynHermani) August 7, 2024
Gen X was the first group to be called, but I wasn’t fast enough to catch it 😅 pic.twitter.com/qmNVenBkcv
In a statement posted Sunday to Truth Social, Trump’s own social media website, Trump falsely claimed there was “nobody there” at an airport hangar in Romulus when Harris gave remarks on Wednesday.
Instead, Trump alleged the Harris campaign had used artificial intelligence to show “a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers. “She should be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE.” Trump wrote. “Anyone who does that will cheat at ANYTHING!”
The Harris campaign refuted Trump’s claims, writing Sunday on social media that the image is "an actual photo of a 15,000-person crowd for Harris-Walz in Michigan.”
Other Democrats scoffed at the claims. “Trump is simply a unhinged, ridiculous liar,” state Sen. Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor wrote on social media.
— Jordyn Hermani
Saturday, Aug. 10 - JD Vance returning for campaign event in Byron Center
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will return to Michigan next week for a campaign event in suburban Grand Rapids.
Vance is scheduled to speak 2 p.m. Wednesday in Byron Center at Cordes Inc., a trucking and dump trailer company, according to the campaign.
It'll be Vance's third trip to Michigan since joining the Republican ticket with presidential nominee Donald Trump — and his second visit in as many weeks.
Vance spoke last week in Macomb County, where he criticized Democratic policies on public safety and immigration while describing Trump's plans for mass deportations.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz campaigned in Michigan last week, rallying with supporters at a Detroit airport hanger and meeting with United Auto Workers union members in Wayne.
— Jonathan Oosting
Thursday, Aug. 8 - Officers in Jan. 6 Capitol riots to campaign for Harris
Two police officers who responded to the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol will be in Michigan Friday to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Harris presidential campaign told Bridge Michigan that Officer Daniel Hodges and former Officer Harry Dunn will hold two roundtables in Grand Rapids and Flint, as well as a press conference in Lansing.
They’re expected to speak out against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, whose attempts to overturn his 2020 loss prompted some supporters to try and block congressional certification of the election.
Howes has worked publicly to dispel misinformation about the riots, during which he was attacked and beaten in the head with his own baton.
Dunn, who was awarded a medal by President Joe Biden for his service that day, said in a statement he thinks Harris is “the only candidate in this race who will protect our democracy and move our country forward.”
“Donald Trump, on the other hand, is a convicted felon who has promised to pardon the rioters who violently attacked hundreds of officers like me on January 6,” he added.
Trump has denied instigating the riots but was impeached by the U.S. House for incitement early 2021. He has said he would pardon "innocent" people who were charged for the Capitol breach, arguing they were "convicted by a very tough system."
The police officers visiting Michigan are also expected to touch on Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint that Trump has disavowed despite authorship by former administration officials, and a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling giving a president “absolute immunity” for official acts, among other things.
Times and locations for the events were not immediately made available.
— Jordyn Hermani
Thursday, Aug. 8- Rogers heats up ad wars in U.S. Senate race
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers is up on the air with his first Michigan television advertisement since advancing to the general election in what is expected to be one of the nation's most expensive races.
"These days, the most expensive vehicle to operate is your grocery cart," the narrator says to open the 30-second commercial, which hits Democrats on higher costs caused by inflation.
The campaign says it's part of a "six-figure ad buy" and points to what is expected to be a flood of spending in the race between Rogers and Democratic nominee Elissa Slotkin.
Slotkin and allies are currently on track to outspend Rogers by a significant margin, according to AdImpact, a national tracking firm. As of Wednesday, there had already been nearly $36 million in general election ad reservations for the Democratic candidate, compared to $18.7 million for Rogers.
— Jonathan Oosting
Thursday, Aug. 8 - Harris adviser rejects call for Israel arms embargo
A senior White House official is reaffirming support for Israeli defense after calls for an arms embargo and anti-war protests that briefly interrupted remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris during a campaign stop in Michigan Wednesday.
Members of the Uncommitted National Movement — which gained traction ahead of Michigan’s February primary as a way for voters to push back against the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza — met with Harris earlier Wednesday to discuss the possibility of an Israeli arms embargo and immediate ceasefire in the region.
But Phil Gordon, Harris' national security adviser, wrote on social media Thursday that Harris "will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups."
"She does not support an arms embargo on Israel," he wrote. "She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law."
The comment comes after a group of protestors gathered inside Harris’ metro Detroit rally, chanting slogans at Harris as she spoke regarding being complicit in a genocide.
Harris at first let the protesters continue their chants, but after a third round of interruptions told the crowd that “if you want Donald Trump to win, say that.”
“Otherwise,” she continued, “I’m speaking.”
In Michigan, the uncommitted movement gathered around 100,000 votes in the February presidential primary — about 13% of turnout statewide.
— Jordyn Hermani
Wednesday, Aug. 7 - Big crowd greets Harris, Walz at Detroit airport
Thousands of supporters turned out Wednesday for the first joint appearance in Michigan by Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats' 2024 presidential nominee, and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Harris and Walz landed at the Detroit-area airport hangar, where the rally is being held, shortly after 6:15 p.m. to a roaring crowd.
Voters appeared energetic and enthused about the pair throughout the day, despite rising temperatures within the hangar, which caused four separate medical emergencies ahead of their appearance.
The main event is expected to start at 7 pm. Watch live:
The Harris and Walz visit comes the same day as a Michigan appearance by U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican 2024 vice presidential nominee, who spoke in Shelby Township earlier Wednesday and described former President Donald Trump's plans for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
— Jordyn Hermani
Wednesday, Aug. 7 - Ottawa Impact loses board majority in primary
An ultra-conservative group of Ottawa County commissioners lost their board majority in Tuesday’s Michigan primary election, according to unofficial results.
Four of Ottawa Impact’s nine endorsed candidates — all incumbents — won Republican primary contests for the 11-member board: Chairperson Joe Moss in the 5th District, Kendra Wenzel in the 6th, Sylvia Rhodea in the 8th and Allison Miedema in the 11th.
But unofficial results show 1st District incumbent Gretchen Cosby lost badly to Republican challenger James Barry, who was recommended by a more moderate group called Ottawa Integrity. Likewise, 9th District incumbent Roger Belknap lost to Ottawa Integrity-endorsed Philip Kuyers.
Three other candidates endorsed by Ottawa Impact also lost GOP primaries: Ex-commissioner Lucy Ebel, who was recalled from her position in May, fell to Jordan Jorritsma in the 2nd District. Rachel Atwood lost to John Teeples in the 7th District, and Jason Koert lost to Josh Brugger in the 10th District.
The election losses will end a two-year majority for Ottawa Impact, which garnered attention for changing a county motto that members alleged promoted a “Marxist ideology” and attempting to fire a health officer and replace her with a former employee of an HVAC company, among other things.
Moss and Rhodea formed Ottawa Impact in 2021 in response to Michigan’s mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group of county commissioners rose to prominence after pulling off an impressive grassroots victory in 2022.
— Jordyn Hermani
Tuesday, Aug. 6 - Harris picks Minn. Gov. Tim Walz as running mate
Likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has picked a Great Lakes governor to be her running mate, choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, she announced Tuesday morning.
Walz, a former U.S. Representative from Minnesota, has been governor since 2019, winning twice. He is a former high school social studies teacher and football coach.
Harris makes a campaign visit to Detroit on Thursday and Walz may join her, according to media reports.
Harris, in an Instagram post, lauded Walz’ background as a high school teacher and football coach who was from a small town; he grew up in Nebraska.
“One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep,” Harris wrote in the post. “It’s personal.”
Walz became a darling of the Democratic Party in recent weeks when he criticized Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump, his choice for running mate, JD Vance, and their policy proposals as being “weird.”
His folksy manner — he grew up in a small town and graduated high school in a class of 25 — allowed him to win elections in a Republican-leaning congressional district, a district that Trump won handily in 2016. And he has been clear that his criticisms of Trump do not extend to his supporters.
“And ‘weird’ is specific to him,” Walz said in a podcast with New York Times opinion writer Ezra Klein. “I’m certainly not talking about Republicans. I’m not talking about the people who are at those rallies.”
As governor, he worked with other Great Lakes governors, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, on campaigns in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
— Mike Wilkinson
Monday, Aug. 5 - JD Vance to campaign in Macomb County
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will campaign in Metro Detroit Wednesday, the same day as Vice President Kamala Harris and her yet-to-be announced running mate appear at a Detroit rally.
Vance is expected to deliver “remarks to the press” in Shelby Township, a Macomb County suburb more than 20 miles from Detroit. He is expected to use the venue to offer a critique of Harris and President Joe Biden’s tenure in office.
Trump was last in Detroit in May, speaking at a Black church in the city. It will be Vance’s second visit to Michigan since becoming the vice presidential nominee. He joined Trump at a rally in Grand Rapids in July.
Vance’s morning appearance will preempt Harris’ Detroit rally, set for later that day. She is set to embark Tuesday on a seven-state battleground tour with her running mate, whose identity is expected to be announced soon.
Harris’ has secured support from enough Democratic National Convention delegates to become the party’s presidential nominee. That will become official when a five-day round of online balloting ends Monday night.
Polling averages from the publications RealClearPolitics and 538 both have Harris slightly ahead of Trump — 2 percentage points — in Michigan, a crucial battleground state.
— Simon Schuster
Monday, Aug. 5 - GOP fumes as Trott joins ‘Republicans for Harris'
Former Michigan U.S. Rep. Dave Trott is among a group of Republicans endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, in the 2024 presidential election – causing his county GOP to formally disavow the ex-lawmaker.
Trott represented Michigan in Congress from 2015 through 2019. He was announced this weekend as a member of “Republicans for Harris.” It’s the latest effort to court GOP-leaning voters displeased with former President Donald Trump, who is once again the party’s presidential nominee.
The program’s goal, according to a statement posted to social media, is to mobilize Republican voters hoping to “reject the chaos, division, and violence of Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda.”
Trott’s affiliation with the group irked Oakland County Republican Party Chair Vance Patrick, who posted to social media that the former lawmaker is not a recognized member of our party” and disavowed his actions.
“We don’t need fake Republicans like Dave Trott anywhere near our party,” Vance added in a later comment.
Trott has not publicly commented on either his decision to endorse or on Patrick’s comments.
However Harris’ national director of Republican outreach, Austin Weatherford, told The Associated Press that he thinks Trump’s “extremism is toxic to the millions of Republicans who no longer believe the party of Donald Trump represents their values” and will vote against him again in November.
The campaign, he said, will be “showing up and taking the time every single day to earn the vote of Republicans who believe in putting country over party and know that every American deserves a president who will protect their freedoms and a commander in chief who will put the best interests of the American people above their own.”
— Jordyn Hermani
Friday, Aug. 2 - Kamala Harris secures nomination, adds Michigan event
Vice President Kamala Harris has secured enough votes from Democratic delegates to become the party's presidential nominee, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison announced Friday.
Delegates voted virtually instead of waiting for the party's official nominating convention, which is set to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Also Friday, the White House confirmed that Harris will stretch her Michigan campaign stop into two days next week.
In addition to her previously scheduled Wednesday night rally in Detroit, the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee is also expected at a Michigan-based “campaign event” Thursday morning.
No further information was immediately made available.
The Michigan stops are part of a new battleground state tour for Harris, who is expected to be joined by her yet-unnamed vice presidential running mate.
Michigan is among the handful of swing states both Democrats and Republicans are focused on in the run-up to the Nov. 5 presidential election. Recent polls of Michigan voters show Harris with a narrow advantage over Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Harris’ Michigan stops will be preceded by an appearance in Wisconsin — another of the handful of states considered to be the key to presidential victory in November — earlier Wednesday. She’ll be in North Carolina later Thursday.
Harris has amassed considerable support for the role following President Joe Biden’s July announcement that he was no longer seeking reelection.
— Jordyn Hermani
Wednesday, July 31 - UAW endorses Kamala Harris ahead of Detroit visit
The United Auto Workers has endorsed Kamala Harris for a president, the union announced Wednesday after a vote from its international executive board.
“Her historic candidacy builds on the Biden-Harris administration’s proven track record of standing with the UAW and delivering major gains for the working class,” the union said, touting Harris’ pro-union record.
The union had previously endorsed President Joe Biden for reelection before the president ended his campaign for reelection.
The new endorsement comes ahead of Harris’ planned visit to Detroit next week. While her campaign has not yet released many details, the UAW said she’ll visit the city on Wednesday to “rally with UAW members, Michigan voters and thousands of working class people.”
“Vice President Harris will also meet directly with UAW members and leaders to hear about the issues that matter to Michigan workers,” the union said.
The UAW has 1 million active and retired members in the U.S. but in 2023 the union reported its lowest membership, at 370,000, since the height of the great recession in 2009. Michigan’s largest union is the AFL-CIO.
Michigan had 564,000 union members in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 13% of Michigan workers.
While unions have historically been strongly in favor of Democratic presidential candidates, former President Donald Trump has made significant inroads with workers. According to a 2020 exit poll conducted by CNN, 40% of voters from a union household chose Trump, while 56% voted for then-candidate Joe Biden.
Wednesday, July 31 - Kamala Harris to campaign in Detroit
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is slated to visit Detroit next week with her to-be-announced running mate, according to her campaign through White House pool reports.
Harris and her future vice presidential pick are expected to crisscross the country on a tour of battleground states that stretches from Las Vegas to Philadelphia next week.
The exact date and location of the event in Detroit has not yet been made public.
After President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection bid July 21 in the face of growing Democratic discontent, Harris quickly began to consolidate support among key Democrats. Delegates intend to hold a virtual vote next week to formalize her nomination ahead of their convention which begins Aug. 19.
Michigan Democratic Party delegates earlier this month voted with near-unanimous support to assign their newly unbound votes to Harris.
Her potential running mates include several Democratic governors, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to reports from Axios and other outlets,
Speculation has also spread, however, to Michigan U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, whose name has emerged as a "dark horse" candidate, though he hasn’t confirmed whether he entered the campaign’s vetting process.
Harris has told reporters a final decision has not yet been made, but one is expected within the next week.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also been dogged by speculation. first that she could replace Biden and later that she could be Harris’ partner. Whitmer has firmly denied the scuttlebutt, telling reporters. “I’m not leaving Michigan.”
Polling in the presidential race, where Harris is expected to face former President Donald Trump in less than 100 days, has tightened in recent days. Several robust polls have indicated Harris and Trump are statistically tied in Michigan, which is set to be a crucial battleground in the final stretch to the Nov. 5 general election.
Detroit, the state's largest city, has become a focal point. Trump has attempted to make inroads in the Democratic stronghold, courting Black voters in a June roundtable at a local church.
Biden beat Trump in Detroit by a wide margin in 2020 — 228,047 votes, or 94% of all ballots cast — but Trump improved his vote total in the city by 6,154 votes compared to 2016.
Some local Democrats like Wayne County Executive Warren Evans had sounded alarm bells earlier this year, warning the party and Biden campaign of apathy among Black voters heading into the fall.
But Evans this week praised Harris, saying he now has "a presidential candidate that I can support 1,000%." There’s “not really a choice here,” he said Wednesday. "Kamala Harris has the background, she has worked for the last four years to help get us where we are."
— Simon Schuster
Tuesday, July 30 - Democrats hope to flip state House seat despite death
A new Democratic write-in candidate has emerged in Genesee County’s 68th state House district, where the passing of former Rep. Tim Sneller left a vacancy in a region where Democrats hope to challenge an incumbent Republican.
Sneller, a longtime legislative staffer and former lawmaker, had been the lone Democratic primary candidate in the 2024 cycle after changes to term limit laws made him eligible to run again.
Before his death earlier this month, Sneller had planned to challenge incumbent state Rep. David Martin, R-Davidson, in the district covering a wide swath of Genesee County and a portion of Oakland County.
Matt Schinkler, a 47-year employee of General Motors who has also served in various community board positions in Genesee County, announced he is running as a write-in candidate to replace Sneller on the general election ballot.
Schinkler did so, he said, “with deep respect and a heavy heart” and hopes to continue Sneller’s legacy.
Democrats currently hold a two-seat majority in the Michigan House, which is up for grabs again this fall. Both major parties are banking millions of dollars in preparation for a general election fight, which will concentrate around a handful of the state’s most politically competitive seats.
— Lauren Gibbons
Monday, July 29 - Gary Peters enters the veepstakes chat
A new Michigan name has emerged as a "dark horse" candidate to serve as a Kamala Harris running mate: U.S. Sen. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township.
Axios reports that union leaders are leading a "quiet push" for Peters to join the Democratic ticket with Harris, the vice president who has quickly amassed support to become the party’s expected presidential nominee.
Peters first won election to the U.S. Senate in 2014. He served in the U.S. House before that. He chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
His name has not appeared on early lists of potential Harris running mates, which have often included U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who moved to northern Michigan in 2022, has also been mentioned as a potential vice presidential nominee.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has taken herself out of the running but remains a campaign co-chair and said Monday she expects Harris to make her decision within the next week.
Monday, July 29 - Trump endorses Paul Junge for Congress
Former President Donald Trump this weekend announced his "complete and total endorsement" to Republican Paul Junge of Grand Blanc in Michigan's closely contested 8th Congressional District.
Junge, of Grand Blanc, is competing in the GOP primary for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, who is not seeking re-election.
Other Republican candidates include businesswoman Mary Draves and trucking company owner Anthony Hudson.
The Democratic primary features state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet, State Board of Education President Pam Pugh and former Flint Mayor Matt Collier.
Junge, who worked as an external affairs officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, challenged Kildee two years ago but lost in the general election.
Kildee's departure made quickly made the district one of the most competitive in the state and a top target for both major parties nationally. The district includes Flint, Midland, Bay City and Saginaw to the north.
— Jonathan Oosting
Wednesday, July 24 - Delegates vote to back Kamala Harris at DNC
Michigan Democratic delegates voted almost unanimously Tuesday evening to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed President Joe Biden, who ended his reelection campaign on Sunday.
All but two of Michigan’s 138 delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention are now pledged to Harris, who reportedly had already secured enough delegate support to clinch the party’s nomination to take on Republican former President Donald Trump.
“As delegates across the country rally behind Harris, we are excited to continue to unite this party so we can come together in November and elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” state party Chair Lavora Barnes said in a statement.
The Democratic National Convention is slated to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago, but under rules adopted Wednesday, party delegates are expected to nominate Harris and a running mate in a virtual vote by Aug. 7.
Biden, meanwhile, is expected to address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. He said on social media that he'll discuss “what lies ahead” and how he will “finish the job for the American people."
— Jonathan Oosting
Tuesday, July 23 - Buttigieg not ruling out vice president
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a Michigan resident, on Monday left the door open to serving as the running mate of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
But Harris is “going to make that decision,” he said in an interview on MSNBC.
In the days following President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection, support has quickly solidified behind Harris as his replacement atop the Democratic ticket.
A survey by the Associated Press indicates Harris already has the delegate support necessary to clinch the nomination at the August Democratic National Convention.
Her campaign has quickly turned to evaluating potential running mates. CNN reported her campaign has asked for vetting materials from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Tim Walz of Minnesota and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois.
Related: Gretchen Whitmer knocks down VP talk: ‘I’m not leaving Michigan’
Whitmer told reporters yesterday, “I’m not leaving Michigan” when asked if she would accept a spot on the presidential ticket.
While Buttigieg hasn’t been mentioned in early vetting reports, he’s been floated as a potential vice presidential nominee.
Buttigieg moved to the Traverse City area in 2022, where he lives with his two children and husband, who grew up in the region. He has served in Biden’s cabinet as transportation secretary since the beginning of Biden’s term.
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020. He won the Iowa caucuses but ended his campaign and endorsed Biden in early March after failing to win any other states.
— Simon Schuster
Saturday, July 20 - Sandy Pensler ends Senate campaign
Michigan businessman Sandy Pensler said Saturday he is "ceasing" his campaign for U.S. Senate and endorsing fellow Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
Pensler announced his decision on stage Saturday night at former President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Grand Rapids, where Trump invited both him and Rogers on stage.
"My campaign was always about making American better," Pensler said.
"The best way to do that is to enact President Trump's policies. To do that, we need control of the Senate. A divisive, continued primary effort hurts the chances of that."
Related: Donald Trump in west Michigan: 'I took a bullet for democracy'
Pensler will remain on the ballot — including absentee ballots that have already gone out — for the Aug. 6 primary. He was among four Republicans seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate race to replace retiring Democrat Debbie Stabenow.
Rogers, former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash and physician Sherry O'Donnell remain in the race.
Trump endorsed rogers in March.
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and actor Hill Harper are competing in the Democratic primary.
— Jonathan Oosting
Saturday, July 20 - Watch Trump rally in Grand Rapids
Thousands of supporters were filing into Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena Saturday ahead of former President Donald Trump’s first campaign rally with his newly-selected running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance.
Watch Trump's full speech here:
It is the first joint campaign rally Trump has held since selecting Vance as his running mate and accepting the Republican presidential nomination at his party’s convention in Milwaukee on Thursday.
It’s also Trump’s first public rally since an assassination attempt one week ago that left his ear injured and the country shaken by the specter of political violence. Supporters throughout the crowd wore apparel bearing the instantly iconic image of Trump raising his fist in the moments after the shooting.
Prior to the event, a line of supporters awaiting entry stretched around the block in downtown Grand Rapids. Security has reportedly been tightened since the assassination attempt and roads around the arena were closed to traffic well ahead of the rally.
Organizers are expecting a full house when Trump takes the stage at 5 p.m., though the upper deck of the arena is not being occupied. Trump last visited Michigan with a Detroit stop at a Black church in June.
— Simon Schuster
Friday, July 19 - Trump talks autos, UAW and Kid Rock at RNC
In his first speech since a failed assassination attempt against him, Donald Trump on Thursday night recounted the shooting and accepted the Republican nomination for president.
Watch the full speech here:
The former president, who is set to return to Michigan on Saturday for a Grand Rapids rally, also took aim at auto industry policies under Democratic President Joe Biden and called for the firing of UAW President Shawn Fain.
In his speech at the Republican National Convention, Trump said he'd end Biden's "electric vehicle mandate." There is no mandate, but the Biden administration is pushing automakers to build more electric and hybrid vehicles by setting new average emissions standards.
Trump also criticized Biden and Fain for new auto plants being built in Mexico, an apparent reference to Chinese automaker BYD.
Trump said he would put tariffs of between 100% to 200% on the vehicles to make them "unsellable in the United States." Biden in May announced 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and some other products.
Trump also praised Michigan musician Kid Rock, who performed before Trump took the stage in Milwaukee. Other opening acts included wrestler Hulk Hogan and musician Lee Greenwood.
In a statement, Biden campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said the Democratic incumbent is offering a "different vision" for the country than Trump. "One where we create opportunities for everyone, while making the super wealthy finally pay their fair share."
— Jonathan Oosting
Wednesday, July 17 - Watch John James, Mike Rogers, Perry Johnson at RNC
Michigan U.S. Rep. John James, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers and businessman Perry Johnson spoke this week on the floor of the Republican National Convention, each touting former President Donald Trump or ridiculing President Joe Biden ahead of the November general election.
Watch their speeches below:
James, a Shelby Township Republican, began his Monday night speech in Wisconsin by ... touting the NFC North champion Detroit Lions, which drew a few boos from Packers country. But Michigan’s only Black member of Congress got applause as he told the story of his father, who grew up in the Jim Crow South and later founded a successful logistics business in Detroit.
Under Trump, "we can once again have a land where hard work truly does get you ahead,” James said. “We can, once again, have a land where you can go from poverty to prosperity in a single generation."
Rogers, a former member of Congress now running for U.S. Senate, used his Tuesday night speech to provide red meat to the overwhelmingly pro-Trump convention crowd, bashing illegal immigration, the Chinese Communist party, Biden's push for electric vehicles and price spikes caused by inflation.
"The most expensive vehicle to operate in Michigan in 2024 is your grocery cart, thanks to the Democrats in Washington D.C.," he said.
Johnson, a Bloomfield Hills businessman, was perhaps the most unlikely Michigan convention speaker given his limited political history. He ran for governor in 2022 but was disqualified from the primary ballot due to faulty signatures and then last year launched a long-shot presidential campaign against Trump before bowing out to endorse the former president.
But Johnson revved up the crowd in Milwaukee on Tuesday night with strong statements of loyalty to Trump: "He has the heart of a lion, the brain of a genius — and he's done it before. President Trump is ready to save our country. To 'make America great again,' again.”
— Jonathan Oosting
Tuesday, July 16 - Donald Trump returning to Michigan on Saturday
Former President Donald Trump is set to campaign in Grand Rapids on Saturday for what is expected to be his first public political rally since a gunman attempted to assassinate him last weekend in Pennsylvania.
The campaign stop will also be Trump’s first trip to Michigan with U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who he tapped as his running mate on Monday before Republicans formally voted them to be the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees.
The Grand Rapids rally is scheduled to begin Saturday at 5 p.m. in Van Andel Arena, with doors opening at 1 p.m.
West Michigan has historically been a conservative region, but redistricting, an increasingly liberal Grand Rapids and moderate voter frustration with Trump contributed to a political shift that Republicans are working to reverse.
Trump narrowly won Kent County in 2016, besting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by about three percentage points. But current President Joe Biden flipped the county in 2016, beating Trump by about six points en route to his statewide win.
Saturday’s stop will mark the second time this year Trump will be back in the region. He campaigned in Grand Rapids on April 2 to criticize Biden’s immigration policies.
Trump is expected to again revisit that topic, as well as touch on inflation, the opioid epidemic and crime during Saturday’s rally, according to a statement from his campaign.
— Jordyn Hermani
Tuesday, July 16 - VP Kamala Harris to campaign in Kalamazoo
Vice President Kamala Harris is headed to Michigan this week as part of a swing state tour that Democrats say will highlight the stakes of the fall election as Republicans formally pick Donald Trump as their presidential nominee.
Harris is planning a visit to Kalamazoo on Wednesday to participate in a discussion with former Trump national security official Olivia Troye and Amanda Stratton, a Michigan resident and former Republican voter with a “personal reproductive health story,” according to the Biden-Harris campaign.
The vice president is also expected to deliver remarks.
The planned stop will be the vice president’s fourth visit to Michigan this year and is part of the campaign’s recent push to win over independent and Republican women concerned about reproductive rights.
The visit will also come less than one week after U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten became the first member of Michigan’s Democratic congressional delegation to call on President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid and allow for an alternative candidate.
Biden, who spoke at a Friday campaign rally in Detroit, said he will not leave the race and predicted he will win in the fall despite close polling in Michigan and other “blue wall” states.
— Lauren Gibbons
Monday, July 15 - Trump taps Ohio’s JD Vance as VP pick
Former President Donald Trump has selected U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice presidential running mate, ending weeks of speculation on who the Republican would pick to join him at the top of the ticket.
Vance, 39, was elected to office in 2022 and currently serves as Ohio’s junior Senator, giving Trump another Midwest connection on the ticket after parting ways with former Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana.
Vance gained prominence for his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which was later made into a film.
Trump, in announcing his choice on social media, lauded Vance’s academic, military and business career. Vance was among the handful of Trump’s vice presidential hopefuls, which included U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
“J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance,” Trump wrote, “and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.”
News of Vance’s selection was immediately met with cheers from Michigan Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who is currently in the running for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Vance “will be a tremendous vice president,” Roger said in a statement, calling the selection “another sign” that Trump is “focused on helping middle class Americans achieve the American Dream.”
Michigan Democrats, meanwhile, criticized the choice.
“Trump has only ever surrounded himself with extremists who agree with his far-right agenda, and J.D. Vance is certainly no different,” state party Chair Lavora Barnes said in a statement.
— Jordyn Hermani
Monday, July 15 - John James, Mike Rogers, Perry Johnson to speak at RNC
Michigan U.S. Rep. John James, U.S. Senate hopeful Mike Rogers and businessman Perry Johnson will speak at the Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee.
The Republican National Committee and Donald Trump's presidential campaign announced planned speakers over the weekend but have not yet detailed speaking times.
The convention runs Monday through Thursday in Milwaukee. Formal sessions are slated for:
- Monday 12:45-4:45 p.m.
- Monday 5:45-10:00 p.m.
- Tuesday 5-10:00 p.m.
- Wednesday 5:45-10:00 p.m.
- Thursday 5:45-10:30 p.m.
Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on Saturday evening, is expected to speak at the convention on Thursday night as he accepts the party's presidential nomination.
Multiple television networks are expected to broadcast the convention. The RNC will also stream speeches on YouTube.
— Jonathan Oosting
Friday, July 12 - Full video of Joe Biden campaign speech in Detroit
President Joe Biden spoke at a campaign rally Friday evening in Detroit, vowing to continue his reelection campaign and take on former President Donald Trump.
Watch his speech in the video player below.
The Michigan campaign rally came as Biden pushes back against calls from some fellow Democrats to end his reelection campaign to allow for an alternative nominee to take on Republican former President Donald Trump.
According to portions of his speech released ahead of the event, Biden was expected to promise that the first bill he'd sign in a second term would "restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land."
Biden was also expected to discuss raising the federal minimum wage, banning assault weapons and Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for a second Trump term that the former president has attempted to distance himself from in recent weeks.
Inkster resident Diane Jones said she came to Biden’s rally at Detroit Renaissance High School so she can see the president's performance for herself and decide whether to support him or a different candidate.
A longtime volunteer for Democratic campaigns and causes, Jones said she hoped Biden will address education and criminal justice issues — and make a compelling case for why she should vote for him.
“Everybody talks about how he's not fit and everything else, but I don't know for sure,” she told Bridge Michigan.
There’s nothing that will change Tom Moran’s mind. Holding a homemade sign outside of the rally stating “Pass the Torch, Joe,” Moran said he wanted to see an open Democratic convention next month where other candidates compete for the presidential nomination.
The Fenton resident and lifelong Democrat said if another Democratic candidate doesn’t come forward, he’ll be supporting Cornel West, a third-party candidate.
“I'm not voting for Joe Biden — I saw the debate, and he's just not up to the job,” Moran said. “I think it would be reckless and irresponsible for me to support Biden. And my fear is he's going to stay on the ticket, drag the other Democrats down.”
Deborah Sawicki, of Clinton Township, said she believes Biden is being treated unfairly by members of the party. She remains a staunch supporter, telling Bridge that Biden’s honesty and previous success against Trump are qualification enough to remain on the ticket.
“I’m sending prayers and the power of the Holy Spirit to help Joe remain president,” Sawicki said.
Ahead of his Detroit rally, Biden also made a stop at the Garage Grill & Fuel Bar in Northville, located in the district of U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who had joined Biden on the flight from Washington, along with U.S. Reps. Haley Stevens and Shri Thanedar.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Mayor Mike Duggan were among the Democratic dignitaries who greeted Biden when he landed at the Detroit airport shortly before 4 p.m.
Asked whether she believed Biden should be the Democratic nominee, Benson demurred, telling reporters she’s “just focused on making sure people know what’s at stake this year and know how to exercise their vote.”
— Lauren Gibbons and Jonathan Oosting
Thursday, July 11 - Election tampering case on hold after judge nixes hearing
Hillsdale County District Court Judge Megan Stiverson on Thursday called off a preliminary examination that would have determined whether two Trump loyalists charged with election tampering should be brought to trial.
From the bench of a packed courtroom, Stiverson said she would grant a motion from attorney Dan Hartman — who is representing attorney Attorney Stefanie Lambert and former Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott in the case — to appeal her recent rejection of a motion to dismiss.
Lambert and Scott were charged with multiple felonies in May after Attorney General Dana Nessel alleged Scott refused mandatory maintenance of a voting machine tabulator following the 2020 presidential election. Lambert, serving as Scott’s lawyer at the time, is accused of illicitly transmitting 2020 general election data from the Adams Township electronic poll book under Scott’s direction.
Scott faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, while Lambert faces up to 15 years. They have each pleaded not guilty.
Assistant Attorney General Richard Cunningham called Thursday’s delay “unprecedented and unnecessary.” He declined to comment further after the hearing.
A possible future date for continuing the preliminary examination was not set before court recessed early Thursday.
It's the latest delay in a series of cases stemming from failed efforts to try to prove that fraud cost former President Donald Trump the 2020 election, including so-called “fake electors” cases that have been stalled in district court.
Lambert is facing additional felonies in Oakland County, where she is set to stand trial in October in a separate voting machine tampering case.
— Jordyn Hermani
Wednesday, July 10 - Farm union endorses Slotkin for U.S. Senate
The Michigan Farmers Union on Wednesday endorsed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin, calling the congress member a leader who “understands the challenges facing Michigan's family farmers.”
The state's conservative-leaning agriculture community, long aligned with outgoing U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, could play a key role in deciding who replaces her in the Senate. The race is widely considered a tossup in the general election and one of the most competitive in the country.
Citing Slotkin's current role on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee and her national security background, Michigan Farmers Union President Bob Thompson said Slotkin is poised to advocate for the state's agricultural interests in the Senate and protect farmers from foreign threats to the industry.
Other major farm organizations like the Michigan Farm Bureau’s AgriPAC committee have not yet offered endorsements in the race.
Slotkin currently lives on a family farm in Holly, which was once part of Hygrade Meat Company run by her grandfather, Hugo Slotkin.
She serves on the House Agriculture Committee and previously told Bridge Michigan she sees food security and the future of farming as a national security issue critical to Michigan and the nation’s success.
Both Slotkin and her Democratic primary opponent, Detroit actor and businessman Hill Harper, have said they’d seek placement on the Senate’s agriculture committee if elected.
Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, a front runner for the GOP nomination, has said his top agricultural priorities include removing regulatory barriers for farmers, reforming the H-2A visa program to provide access to more agricultural labor and renegotiating trade deals to protect farmers from subsidized foreign imports.
— Lauren Gibbons
Tuesday, July 9 - Democratic legislator calls for Biden withdraw
State Rep. Phil Skaggs of Grand Rapids has become Michigan’s first Democratic legislator to publicly call for President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid.
“After decades of public service, the highest, final service President Biden can perform for the country is to announce he will end his run for reelection and release his delegates to the Democratic National Convention,” Skaggs wrote in a lengthy thread on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
With Biden at the top of the ticket, Skaggs continued, “indications are that we may be headed to a significant defeat in the fall.”
Skaggs wrote that he was troubled by Biden’s “inability to be an effective communicator” during a June 27 debate that left Democrats shaken and opened questions into Biden’s ability to run a vigorous reelection campaign against former President Donald Trump.
Related: As Biden reassures Democrats, cracks emerge in Michigan’s united front
“I am confident a second Trump imperial presidency will be a calamity of historic and global proportions,” Skaggs added. “We must save our democracy from a takeover by a criminal and his gang.”
Still, there are prominent Michigan Democrats who steadfastly support Biden, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has also sought to end speculation that she could step in as an alternative should Biden bow out.
“I don’t foresee any change in this race, and the president and vice president have my full support,” Whitmer said Tuesday morning on Good Morning America.
— Simon Schuster
Sunday, July 7 - Joe Biden to campaign in Detroit amid calls to withdraw
President Joe Biden will return to Michigan this week to campaign amid calls by some Democratic officials for him to end his re-election bid and open up the party's nomination to another candidate.
Biden is set to visit Detroit on Friday, according to an advisory from his campaign, which did not announce any additional details but said it will do at a later date.
The Detroit stop will be Biden's fourth trip this year to Michigan and first since a debate performance against former President Donald Trump renewed questions over the 81-year-old president's ability to win re-election and lead the country for another four years.
Some members of his own party, including former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson, have urged Biden to withdraw from the presidential race ahead of the August nominating convention.
"It’s clear the president is suffering from cognitive decline, and the actions by him, his family, and staff since the debate have only reinforced that belief," Johnson wrote last week on Facebook. "He will be remembered for a lifetime of honorable service to our country."
Biden has said he has no plans to withdraw.
"I am running — and going to win again," the president said Friday in a Wisconsin rally.
"I'm not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work," Biden added on social media.
Were Biden to step down, Democratic delegates could select a new presidential nominee at the party's upcoming Chicago convention, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 19.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been floated as a potential contender, but she has attempted to quell speculation while publicly affirming her support for Biden.
Biden "is our nominee," Whitmer wrote on social media last week. "He is in it to win it and I support him."
Biden and Trump have both recently campaigned in Detroit, courting Black voters in the traditional Democratic stronghold where turnout could help decide the presidential election.
Biden spoke at an NAACP dinner in May. Trump spoke at a church and conservative conference in June.
— Jonathan Oosting
Wednesday, July 3 - Whitmer, governors to meet with Biden as speculation swirls
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will meet with President Joe Biden in the White House alongside other Democratic governors Wednesday evening, a Whitmer spokesperson confirmed to Bridge.
The meeting comes amid growing calls for Biden to leave the presidential race after his halting debate performance last week.
Whitmer plans to attend the event with Democratic governors from nine other states, while more expected to join virtually, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Speculation has refused to quiet about Whitmer’s presidential prospects should Biden exit the race. Whitmer, a national co-chair of Biden’s campaign, remains a full-throated supporter of the President, though her online appeals to support his reelection link to her own federal fundraising account, Fight Like Hell PAC, rather than Biden’s own fundraising.
On Monday a Politico Magazine column quoted “someone close to a potential 2028 Whitmer rival” claiming she told Biden’s campaign Michigan is no longer winnable after the debate.
Hours later, Whitmer’s X account posted a succinct denial: “Anyone who claims I would say that we can’t win Michigan is full of shit.”
Biden’s wife, Jill, is scheduled to be in Traverse City on Wednesday. On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom — another politician frequently mentioned as a stand-in candidate — will campaign for Biden in Van Buren County.
— Simon Schuster
Wednesday, July 3 - House campaign chair, finance chair resign
Two lawmakers leading 2024 campaign operations for Michigan House Democrats have resigned, according to multiple news outlets.
The Detroit News and Gongwer News Service reported Wednesday that Reps. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, and Samantha Steckloff, D-Farmington Hills, offered their resignations ahead of an internal Tuesday meeting of House Democrats.
House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, is reportedly in the process of revising the campaign structure.
Campaign chairs for legislative caucuses typically set statewide strategy and fundraising plans with the goal of defending vulnerable districts and potentially picking up competitive seats.
The 2024 cycle is critical for Democratic House leadership as they prepare to defend their slim majority in the chamber from Republicans eager to win it back.
The resignations come after a turbulent budget debate, where several Democrats disputed a move to pass the budget without also moving a policy bill involving changes to the state’s retirement system for public school employees.
– Lauren Gibbons
Tuesday, July 2 - Jill Biden headlines Traverse City campaign office opening
First Lady Jill Biden is heading to Michigan on Wednesday to help open a campaign office in Traverse City, President Joe Biden’s campaign announced Tuesday.
The office opening announcement is 1 p.m. Wednesday, where Jill Biden will be joined by Chasten Buttigieg, a northern Michigan native and husband to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigeig.
Jill Biden is reportedly scheduled to land in Grand Rapids Tuesday afternoon, according to CBS News.
Prior to Wednesday’s campaign event, Biden will attend events in Middleville near Grand Rapids to promote summer nutrition programs for children and visit the Hidden Helpers summer camp, the outlet reported.
The new Traverse City location will be the campaign’s 45th Michigan office for recruiting and training volunteers.
Jill Biden last visited Michigan in May, where she made several Upper Peninsula campaign stops with Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.
— Lauren Gibbons
Tuesday, July 2 - Dave Chappelle raising money for Hill Harper
Democrat Hill Harper is teaming with comedian Dave Chappelle for a campaign fundraiser scheduled on July 11 in Detroit’s St. Andrew’s Hall.
Doors for the show open at 6 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show. General admission is $500, with balcony tickets costing $250. Tickets are available online.
Harper is taking on U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly for a shot at Michigan’s hotly contested open U.S. Senate seat. The winner of the Aug. 6 primary faces one of four Republicans: former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, businessman Sandy Pensler or Dr. Sherry O’Donnell.
— Jordyn Hermani
Tuesday, July 2 - Dan Kildee endorses McDonald Rivet
Democratic state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet is running for the U.S. House in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District (Campaign photo)
Retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee endorsed state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, on Tuesday to succeed him in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District.
In a statement, Kildee said a “spirited primary” had emerged in the district but called McDonald Rivet “the best candidate to represent mid-Michigan going forward” and someone who “fights every day for working people.”
A Democrat, Kildee served six terms and won reelection in his newly-drawn district by more than 10 percentage points in 2022. In November, he announced he would not seek reelection, a decision prompted by a recent battle with cancer.
Related: Whitmer endorses in key congressional primary
“When I announced my retirement from Congress, I said I'd do everything I could to help elect common sense, principled, results-oriented leaders,” Kildee said at a campaign event for McDonald Rivet in Flint. “And that's why I'm speaking out, supporting and endorsing Kristen McDonald Rivet.”
McDonald Rivet faces State Board of Education president Pamela Pugh and former Flint mayor Matt Collier in the Aug. 6 Democratic primary.
Kildee’s endorsement follows those of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week, United Auto Workers and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has named the district among its priorities.
The district stretches from Flint’s southern suburbs north along Lake Huron to Pinconning and includes Saginaw and Midland.
— Simon D. Schuster
Friday, June 28 - Whitmer presidential buzz ramps up after Biden debate
President Joe Biden's sluggish performance in Thursday night's debate renewed speculation over whether Democrats could still replace him on the ballot this fall with an alternative candidate.
Experts say Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could be a legitimate contender should Biden step down before the party's August nominating convention, which he has given no indication he plans to do.
"I wish Biden would reflect on this debate performance and then announce his decision to withdraw from the race, throwing the choice of Democratic nominee to the convention," progressive columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote Thursday night on social media.
Related: Gretchen Whitmer says she won’t replace Biden. What happens if that changes?
Someone like Whitmer, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio or Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo "could still jump in and beat" Donald Trump, the former president and presumptive GOP nominee, Kristof predicted, before making similar arguments in a New York Times column.
Steve Schmidt, a former Republican turned Democrat strategist who co-founded the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, predicted after the first hour of the debate that Biden will be a "one-term president."
"He still has the chance to watch a Democrat be inaugurated," Schmidt wrote on social media. "There are 68 days until the DNC. Whitmer/Moore beats Trump," Schmidt added, referencing Maryland Gov. Wes Moore as a possible Whitmer running mate.
Whitmer, for her part, has served as a national campaign co-chair for Biden and has previously denied any attempt to try and replace him as this year's Democratic nominee.
Whitmer was reportedly expected in Los Angeles Thursday night for a debate watch party fundraiser for the Biden campaign, and she tweeted praise for Biden shortly after the debate began.
Whitmer released a statement Friday morning that touted Biden but did not directly reference his debate performance.
"Joe Biden is running to serve the American people. Donald Trump is running to serve Donald Trump," she said.
"The difference between Joe Biden’s vision for making sure everyone in America has a fair shot and Donald Trump’s dangerous, self-serving plans will only get sharper as we head toward November.”
Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said the president "presented a positive and winning vision for the future of America" in the debate.
Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes said the debate presented a "clear choice" between Biden and Trump, who "could not be more out of step with the values of Michiganders."
— Jonathan Oosting
Tuesday, June 25 - Whitmer endorses in key congressional primary
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday endorsed state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, in the Michigan’s closely contested 8th Congressional District.
In a video posted to the X social media platform, Whitmer said Rivet would “fight like hell for Michiganders” in congress, “just like she's been doing in the state legislature,” highlighting recent Democratic policy wins in Lansing.
McDonald Rivet has two primary challengers for the Democratic nomination: State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, and former Flint Mayor Matt Collier.
Kildee served six terms and won reelection in his newly-drawn district by more than 10 percentage points in 2022, but announced in November 2023 he would not seek reelection in, a decision he said was spurred by a recent battle with cancer.
The district has become more conservative since 2020 redistricting. Kildee’s district had once been anchored solely by Flint but now stretches north to encompass the more conservative tri-cities region consisting of Midland, Saginaw and Bay City.
It means the congressional race is expected to be one of the state’s closest. Though there has been little public polling yet conducted in the race, one hypothetical matchup between McDonald Rivet and a GOP challenger, Paul Junge, had the two candidates statistically tied with about a fifth of voters undecided.
In the Republican primary, Junge, a businessman, is competing against Midland native Mary Draves, who recently picked up the endorsement of the Saginaw County Republican Party. Anthony Hudson, another candidate in the GOP primary, recently drew widespread criticism for posting an AI-generated video of Martin Luther King Jr. endorsing his campaign.
— Simon Schuster
Monday, June 24 - Biden, Trump to debate. How to watch, what to watch for
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will debate Thursday night for the first time since the 2020 election, which saw Biden narrowly win Michigan by 154,188 votes en route to an Electoral College victory.
The presumptive presidential nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively, are set to share the stage for a 90 minute debate that starts at 9 p.m. CNN will host from its network studios in Atlanta. Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate.
You should be able to watch the debate on many major TV networks, as the CNN event will be simulcast on NBC, ABC, C-SPAN and more. For viewers without a subscription, CNN is also expected to air the debate live on its website.
The June 27 debate will mark "the earliest general election debate since televised presidential debates began in 1960, according to Dustin Carnahan, an associate professor in Michigan State University’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences.
That's possible because of the "long-held status of both Biden and Trump as the presumptive nominees for their parties," Carnahan said in a pre-debate analysis distributed by the university.
Debates usually don't change many minds because they are typically viewed by people who are already politically engaged, he added.
"But in a year when each campaign has made no secret of its strategy of questioning the other’s fitness for office, any significant gaffes by either of the candidates during the debate is likely to dominate messaging by the campaigns and in news coverage as evidence of that candidate’s decline,” Carnahan said.
“And given the longer period between the first and second debate in 2024 — two months rather than a week or two in a normal debate schedule — attempts at damage control might prove more challenging as a poor performance is likely to linger."
Thursday, June 20 - Slotkin says abortion rights fight not over
Prominent abortion rights advocates gathered in Grand Rapids on Thursday to campaign for U.S. Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin, arguing their fight didn’t end in 2022 when Michigan voters added abortion rights to the state constitution.
EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler, Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Alexis McGill Johnson and Reproductive Freedom for All President Mini Timmaraju joined Slotkin, who said abortion opponents have not stopped their efforts to limit access after the downfall of Roe v. Wade two years ago.
She pointed to a recent legal challenge to abortion medication prescriptions that was ultimately tossed by the U.S. Supreme Court and near-total abortion bans in other states.
“They brought this fight, and we cannot let them win this fight,” Slotkin said.
Abortion advocates won big at the Michigan ballot box two years ago with passage of Proposal 3, which wrote abortion rights and reproductive health access into the state constitution. Democrats, too, saw success at the polls, winning a sweep of statewide offices and majority control of the Legislature.
While leading Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers has said he won’t try to “undo” the Michigan law, abortion rights groups on Thursday urged voters to avoid complacency, pointing to the possibility of a federal abortion ban.
“We know that what we did here in Michigan could so easily be stripped away next year if we are not able to take back the House, if we lose the Senate and lose the presidency,” Timmaraju said.
Former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump said in April that he believed laws enforcing abortion access should be left to the states. He did not directly say whether he would veto a federal abortion ban if congressional Republicans put one on his desk.
— Lauren Gibbons
Thursday, June 20 - Michigan GOP chair welcomes Doug Burgum: ‘Maybe a Trump VP?’
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum visited Michigan on Thursday as a surrogate for former President Donald Trump, who is reportedly considering Burgum as a potential running mate as he campaigns to return to the White House.
Burgum toured a butcher’s shop in Walker with Republican officials, including Michigan GOP chairman Pete Hoekstra, who joined the running mate speculation with a morning tweet: “Welcome Governor Burgum to West Michigan! Maybe a Trump VP?”
Later Thursday, Burgum is expected to attend a Michigan GOP fundraiser reception at Ucellos in downtown Grand Rapids.
Burgum, in his second term as Governor of North Dakota, was a presidential candidate before announcing he was suspending his campaign in December 2023.
Trump was in Detroit last Saturday, speaking in a church in a bid to win support from Black voters, though the audience was largely white.
President Joe Biden won Kent County, where Burgum visited, by a slim margin in the 2020 election.
— Simon Schuster
Tuesday, June 18 - Supremes mull Benson poll challenger rules
The Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday morning in a two year-old suit challenging the breadth of election guidance the Michigan Secretary of State can issue and how far-reaching it can be.
At issue is whether Jocelyn Benson’s department could legally issue guidance for poll challengers ahead of the 2022 election without using the administrative rules process, and if the instructions they issued followed Michigan election law.
May 2022 rules required partisan poll challengers to be credentialed by their parties. They couldn’t carry cell phones or speak with election inspectors. Republicans, including the state and national parties, challenged the rules and the department’s process. The Michigan Court of Claims and Court of Appeals ruled for the GOP, but the rules have remained in place through the legal battle.
Assistant Attorney General Heather Meingast, who represented the state on Wednesday, told Supreme Court justices that a requirement to use the rulemaking process in such instances “threatens the Secretary's ability to issue timely and effective instructions” for future elections.
The rules aimed, in part, to manage an increasingly contentious vote-counting process by heading off combative poll challengers who are more disruptive than scrutinizing.
Justice David Viviano, a Republican nominee, seemed skeptical about the scope of one rule that would require challengers to refer their disputes to a “challenger liaison.” He expressed concerns those liaisons, under the department’s rule, could throw away challenges they deemed frivolous.
“Where does the Secretary find the authority to have clerks determine which challenges are permissible, such that they don't even have to be adjudicated, much less recorded for future review by anybody?” he asked.
At the same time, an attorney representing the Republican National Committee, Robert Avers, didn’t have a direct answer for how — without those rules — election officials could address a poll challenger making constant objections to voters’ eligibility.
“There has to be this collaboration between the inspector and the challenger,” Avers said, suggesting there could be a discussion before turning to law enforcement and removal.
The determination by the seven-member court could have far-reaching effects on the ability of state officials to fine-tune the administration of Michigan’s election. Liberals have a 4-3 advantage on the court.
— Simon Schuster
Tuesday, June 18 - Trump endorses Barrett for Congress
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Tom Barrett in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District race. (Campaign courtesy photo)
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican Tom Barrett in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District race, his second non-incumbent Michigan endorsement of the cycle so far.
Barrett would “be an incredible representative” for the district, Trump said in a Monday message posted to his own social media site, Truth Social.
“Tom bravely served our Country as an Army Helicopter Pilot and, in Congress, he will Secure our Border, Defend our Law Enforcement, Support our Military/Vets, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump wrote. “Tom has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
Barrett, a former Michigan state senator, has no Republican primary challengers. He will take on Curtis Hertel, a Democrat and former colleague in the Michigan Senate, in November. Hertel is also not facing a challenge in the August primary.
This is Trump’s second non-incumbent Michigan endorsement of the 2024 cycle. In March, he endorsed former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. He has also endorsed every member of Michigan's Republican congressional delegation for the 2024 cycle.
— Jordyn Hermani
Friday, June 14 - Dems to fly sky banner over Trump boat parade in Detroit
Ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to Detroit this weekend, the Democratic National Committee is planning to hit the city with advertisements attacking the former president.
Trump supporters traveling down the Detroit River in a “boat parade” on Saturday are expected to be greeted by a plane flying overhead with a banner that says “Trump’s a Crook, Don’t Let Em Sink Ur Boat.”
The sky banner will fly the length of the boat parade’s three-hour route from Lake St. Clair to Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The parade is slated to end next to Huntington Place, the convention center where Trump is scheduled to address a convention of conservative activists hosted by the organization Turning Point Action.
At the time of the parade, Trump is slated to be in a church in northwest Detroit, where his campaign said he will attend a roundtable of community leaders.
“This weekend, Michigan voters will be reminded of how Trump is unfit to lead, not only as a convict, but as a failed leader who left working families behind during his first term,” DNC spokesperson Stephanie Justice said in a statement. “Trump will continue to prop up his extreme, anti-freedom agenda and attack democracy in Detroit, but Michiganders know better than to listen to a crook who always puts his own interests first.”
Detroit has become a focal point for the campaign of President Joe Biden, where he, Vice President Kamala Harris and key surrogates have made repeated stops in recent months. Biden most recently spoke at the Detroit Branch NAACP’s Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner in May.
The DNC is also running digital billboard ads on freeways into the city in English and Spanish, saying “Trump and his fellow crooks are in Detroit asking for your vote. But it’s a scam, they don’t care about you, they’re just out for themselves.”
A statement from Trump’s campaign said “President Donald Trump loves the people of Michigan and is doing what it takes to stop (Joe Biden) from continuing to destroy our great nation.”
— Simon Schuster
Friday, June 14 - DePerno runs for state Supreme Court despite indictment
Attorney Matthew DePerno, a Trump loyalist currently battling felony charges for his role in an alleged voting machine tampering scheme, is running for the Michigan Supreme Court.
In a statement, DePerno said he is running for a seat on the state’s highest court, in part, because "activist judges, prosecutors and attorney generals are using their power to prosecute their political enemies."
“After watching the abuse of our legal system both here in Michigan, as well as across the country, it is clear that the Michigan Supreme Court needs members that are committed to following the constitution and rule of law,” he said.
The Michigan GOP confirmed DePerno’s candidacy Thursday morning, listing him as one of three August convention candidates who will compete for the party's nomination to a partial-term seat.
The Kalamazoo-area lawyer has never held elected office or a judicial post. He was the Michigan Republican Republican Party’s nominee for attorney general in 2022 but lost to Democrat Dana Nessel. He also ran for Michigan GOP Chair last year but lost a convention vote to Kristina Karamo, who has since been replaced.
DePerno gained notoriety in conservative circles for his 2020 lawsuit that alleged a reported vote total in Antrim County was evidence that fraud cost then-President Donald Trump in that year’s election.
DePerno lost that case, and the Michigan Supreme Court denied his appeal.
Along with former state Rep. Daire Rendon and fellow attorney Stefanie Lambert, DePerno is now facing criminal charges for an alleged pro-Trump plot to illegally access voting machines following the 2020 election. He’s pleaded not guilty.
Supreme Court candidates are technically nonpartisan, but they are nominated at conventions by political parties.
DePerno is running for a partial-term seat currently held by Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, an appointee of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who is also running to complete the term.
He’ll have competition: Branch County Judge Patrick William O’Grady and former gubernatorial candidate Alexandria Taylor are also seeking that GOP nomination.
Also on the ballot is an opening for a full term on the court after Justice David Viviano, a GOP nominee, announced he wouldn't seek re-election.
Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Adams Township, and Appellate Court Judge Mark Boonstra are both seeking the Republican nomination for that seat, while University of Michigan law professor Kimberly Ann Thomas is seeking the Democratic nomination.
— Lauren Gibbons
Monday, June 10 - Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock coming to Grand Rapids
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is scheduled to visit Michigan in September as part of a national arena tour featuring conversations about the 2024 presidential election with high profile conservative figures.
Among them: Michigan native Kid Rock, who Carlson plans to interview at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel arena on Sept. 20. Tickets go on sale June 14.
The 15-stop tour will feature conversations “about pressing issues facing our nation today,” including the 2024 presidential election and “today’s American culture,” according to an event listing from Moms for America, a national conservative education advocacy group.
Carlson’s planned stop will come just over a month after Michigan’s Aug. 6 congressional primary and will undoubtedly serve as a means to advocate for former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.
Other guests on Carlson’s national tour include actress Rosanne Barr, former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, a Georgia Republican.
— Jordyn Hermani
Saturday, June 8 - VP Kamala Harris rips Trump conviction in Detroit
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Michigan on Saturday to raise campaign funds and rouse Democratic Party activists as she and President Joe Biden seek re-election this fall.
Harris first stopped in Ann Arbor for a private fundraiser that included actress Octavia Spencer, according to pool reports. The vice president then visited Black Stone Bookstore and Cultural Center in Ypsilanti before heading to Detroit for the Michigan Democratic Party's annual Legacy Dinner fundraiser.
Harris spoke at the Detroit event, where she began by addressing the Gaza war and the recent Israeli rescue of four hostages held by Hamas.
She was briefly interrupted by a protester but reiterated Biden's recent comments that "it is time for this war to end,” according to a recording of the speech.
Harris also took multiple jabs at former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee who was recently convicted on felony counts in a hush money case in New York.
"Simply put, Donald Trump really thinks he is above the law," Harris said. “He really does. And this should be disqualifying for anyone who wants to be president of the United States."
Victoria LaCivita, a spokesperson for Team Trump Michigan and the state GOP, dismissed the conviction as the result of a "rigged political witch hunt.” She accused the Biden campaign of focusing on the case "because they are failing Michiganders on the issues every single day."
Friday, June 7 - Court dismisses disqualification challenge
Nasser Beydoun, a Democrat running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, is still poised to miss the primary ballot after an appeals court panel on Friday rejected a lawsuit contending he was wrongly disqualified.
Beydoun was removed from the ballot last week by the Board of State Canvassers because he used a P.O. box, rather than a required home address, on his nominating petitions — citing personal safety concerns.
A Michigan Court of Appeals panel, in denying his request for relief, wrote that while “not unsympathetic” to Beydoun’s argument, he could have prioritized his privacy and still complied with state law by listing a business address rather than a home address.
Judges, however, have yet to weigh in on a suit filed by Dr. Anil Kumar, a Democrat running in Michigan's 10th Congressional district. Kumar was removed from the ballot after state Bureau of Elections staff “identified at least 47 petition sheets showing clear indications of fraud.”
If courts decide to take up Kumar’s suit, they’ll need to do so before June 22, when local clerks must begin printing absentee ballots and sending them to military or overseas voters.
— Jordyn Hermani
Wednesday, June 5 - Nessel opinion tightens financial disclosure rules
State elections officials can require officeholders to provide more than the bare minimum on new personal financial disclosure forms, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel determined in a formal legal opinion released Wednesday.
A 2022 ballot proposal approved by Michigan voters and later written into state statute by legislators requires the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and lawmakers to file financial disclosure statements, the first of which were due in April.
As part of those disclosures, officials were required to list their assets, liabilities, income sources, future employment agreements, gifts, travel reimbursements and more.
Lawmakers who finalized the rules last fall extended disclosure requirements to candidates for those same offices, but they left what critics called gaping "loopholes" allowing filers to obscure monetary values and other information about income sources, as well as assets held by spouses.
In the June 5 opinion, requested by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Nessel concluded that Benson can require additional identifying information about income sources, such as names and addresses associated with stock options or other unearned income.
“Knowledge of public officers’ financial interests and entanglements permits the public to determine when those officers might be acting for their own gain,” Nessel wrote in the opinion. “Simply disclosing that a public officer has a ‘pension,’ ‘annuity,’ or ‘deferred compensation’ plan would not advance the purpose of the amendment.”
The opinion also allows for more specific disclosure of lobbyist gifts or charitable donations on the officeholders’ behalf. That includes making officials disclose all gifts legally required to be reported by lobbyists, even if the lobbyist failed to do so in their own reports, along with any charitable contributions a lobbyist makes in lieu of a gift to a lawmaker.
"The constitution requires more than just disclosing a 'list' of gifts and payments - it requires the disclosure of 'information,' meaning 'facts' and 'data,' regarding the gifts or patents made by lobbyists or lobbyist agents,” Nessel’s opinion reads.
Benson, in a statement responding to Nessel’s opinion, said the attorney general’s opinion provides “clarity and certainty” about the new disclosure rules.
“I will continue to fight for laws improving transparency and accountability in our state, limiting the influence of lobbying and financial interests, and allowing better enforcement of disclosure and ethics requirements," Benson said.
— Lauren Gibbons
Tuesday, June 4 - Biden immigration order prompts GOP backlash
Amid political pressure over the uptick in illegal crossings from Mexico, President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday allowing his administration to effectively shut down the southern border when the system is “overwhelmed.”
Biden’s order sparked backlash from Michigan Republicans, who argued the Democratic incumbent is doing too little and too late in an election year, and human rights advocates who claimed the decision would put lives at risk.
The order aims to bar migrants who unlawfully cross into the U.S. from receiving asylum if the crossings “exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences, as is the case today,” according to a White House statement.
The order will “make it easier for immigration officers to remove those without a lawful basis to remain and reduce the burden on our Border Patrol agents,” the Biden administration said.
According to the Associated Press, Biden’s order would trigger an effective border shutdown when there are a daily average of 2,500 illegal crossings. The border would reopen to asylum seekers once the average declines to 1,500.
Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra, who is backing former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, on Tuesday accused Biden of trying to “legitimize a system that is broken,” calling the move a “failed strategy.”
Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, joined Hoekstra at a morning press conference and suggested the Democratic president should consider revisiting Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy to return most asylum-seekers to that country to wait out their pending immigration cases.
The Biden campaign countered the GOP criticism by noting Trump helped torpedo a bipartisan border deal this year in Congress, claiming he “ordered his MAGA allies to kill it because he thought it would help him politically.”
That congressional plan would have added additional border agents, installed drug-detection machines and created emergency protocols for border backlogs, but fell flat after Trump and other conservatives criticized the deal in February.
“Keeping our communities safe is at the bottom of Trump’s priority list while inciting chaos and division is at the top,” Alyssa Bradley, Michigan communications director for the Biden campaign, said in a statement.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, praised Biden's order but called on Congress to "act on legislation that will strengthen these efforts." Her administration will approve federal requests for Michigan National Guard deployments to the southern border, as it has done under both Trump and Biden, Whitmer added.
— Lauren Gibbons
Thursday, May 30 - Harper challenges Slotkin to four U.S. Senate debates
U.S. Senate candidate Hill Harper is calling for four Democratic debates before the Aug. 6 primary and criticizing his top competitor for bowing out of a planned bipartisan debate at this week’s Mackinac Policy Conference.
During an island press conference, Harper told reporters he wants to debate Elissa Slotkin in geographically diverse parts of the state in order to get in front of as many voters as possible.
“It's incumbent upon us as candidates to go everywhere across the state and inform voters,” Harper said on the porch of the Grand Hotel, where Slotkin was also meeting with conference attendees. “We should debate right now.”
Related: Stabenow not endorsing in primary as Michigan’s U.S. Senate race narrows
Slotkin backed out of what was supposed to be a bipartisan Mackinac debate after Republican primary front-runner Mike Rogers declined to participate.
Slotkin told Bridge Michigan Thursday that she had signed up for the Mackinac debate in April and had pushed for an alternate format after Rogers and Republican Justin Amash declined invites.
She said her campaign has reached out to Harper’s to discuss a Democratic primary debate format and would also participate in a general election debate.
“I'm still ready to debate, because that's what I've always done in every race,” Slotkin said.
— Lauren Gibbons
Wednesday, May 29 - Trump coming to Detroit
Former President Donald Trump is slated to return to Michigan in June, this time to speak at The People’s Conference, a three-day conservative conference in Detroit, according to organizers.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is among a handful of high-profile conservatives expected to speak at the event, which is scheduled for June 14-16 at the Huntington Place. Organizers did not immediately make clear when Trump would give remarks.
Other announced speakers include ex-Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and ex-U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat turned Independent.
Hosted by Turning Point Action — the campaign arm of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization advocating for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses.
Interested parties can request tickets, which start at $50 for those age 26 and under and run up to $525 for older VIP attendees.
Trump’s return to Michigan comes following campaign stops in Grand Rapids and Saginaw County, where he spoke at length on immigration and electric vehicles, respectively.
— Jordyn Hermani
Wed. May 29 - Lara Trump to speak in Macomb County
Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law of former President Donald Trump, is set to headline a Republican fundraising dinner in Macomb County next month.
The Michigan Republican Party announced Lara Trump as the keynote speaker for the Macomb County Lincoln Day Dinner, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on June 12 at Penna's of Sterling in Sterling Heights.
Tickets start at $250 for a single seat. VIP tickets, which include a picture with Lara Trump, cost $2,500 and a sponsorship is $5,000.
Lara Trump became co-chair for the RNC — the national party's top fundraising post — in March alongside Michael Whatley.
Ronna McDaniel of Michigan had led the RNC since 2017 but resigned in late February at the suggestion of Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
Trump is expected to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election. Biden won Michigan by 154,188 votes.
The state is one of a handful that could determine the election this fall. Both Biden and Trump campaigned Michigan this month. Biden spoke at an NAACP Dinner in Detroit, while Trump held a rally in Saginaw County.
Tuesday, May 28 - Tlaib suggests voters may withhold Biden votes
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib told a crowd this weekend that voters upset with President Joe Biden’s support of Israel “aren’t going to forget this in November.”
Tlaib, D-Detroit, made her remarks Saturday at the People’s Conference for Palestine, a three-day event in Detroit calling for Israel to stop its offensive in the region and for “an end to all U.S. aid for Israel.” Conservative outlets have accused the conference of supporting terrorist-aligned organizations such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
As part of her speech, Tlaib slammed both Biden “and my colleagues in Congress” for not better supporting anti-war student protests at universities across the country.
“It is cowardly,” Tlaib added, “but we’re not gonna forget in November, are we?”
Tlaib has long been a vocal opponent of Biden’s support for Israel as it continues its war against Hamas in Gaza. She was one of the handful of elected officials to urge voting “uncommitted” in Michigan’s February presidential primary as a way to protest Israel’s ongoing war.
About 13% of Michigan’s Democratic primary voters did end up voting “uncommitted” earlier this year, the effort seeing a large turn out in places like Dearborn and Hamtramck, cities with a heavy Muslim or Arab American populations.
— Jordyn Hermani
Tuesday, May 28 - Slotkin debuts first TV ad
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin has released her first television ad buy in her bid for the U.S. Senate, highlighting her CIA experience under the past presidential administrations of George W. Bush, a Republican, and Barack Obama, a Democrat.
The 30-second clip is part of a multi-million dollar campaign which will run on broadcast, cable, digital and specifically on Black radio stations across Michigan, according to her campaign.
“For me, service is not about partisanship,” Slotkin, a Democrat running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, says in the ad. “It’s about doing what’s right to protect our country. … I refuse to let politics split us apart.”
Slotkin is one of three Democrats running for the open seat. Others include Detroit actor and author Hill Harper and Dearborn business owner Nasser Beydoun.
Beydoun’s status on the ballot could be in jeopardy after a Board of Elections review determined many of his signatures are likely invalid.
Republicans in the running include former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, physician Sherry O’Donnell, businessman Sandy Pensler and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers.
— Jordyn Hermani
Friday, May 24 - Rogers has signatures
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers has enough valid signatures to make Michigan's Aug. 6 primary ballot, but Democratic candidate Nasser Beydoun does not, the Michigan Bureau of Elections said Friday.
The bipartisan Board of State Canvassers, which is set to meet next week to certify candidate nominating petitions, will have the final word.
Beydoun is one of 17 candidates the Bureau is recommending canvassers keep off the ballot because of invalid signatures, including seven candidates for U.S. House. If canvassers follow the recommendations, it would be the second major election cycle in a row where multiple Michigan candidates were disqualified.
Bureau staff said Beydoun shouldn't make the cut because his nominating petitions listed a P.O. Box rather than a required street address, making all signatures they reviewed invalid. Fellow Democratic Senate candidate Hill Harper had challenged Beydoun's petitions on similar grounds.
For Rogers, the frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination, the Bureau effectively dismissed a late challenge filed by the Michigan Democratic Party and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who had claimed evidence of "potential fraud" on the former congressman's petitions.
Rogers appears to have more than enough signatures to make the ballot, the Bureau said in a report.
Below, you'll find a full list of candidates the Michigan Bureau of Elections is recommending canvassers disqualify. You can read the bureau reports here.
- U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Nasser Beydoun
- 1st District U.S. House Republican candidate Josh Saul
- 1st District U.S. House Republican candidate JD Wilson
- 8th District U.S. House Republican candidate Nikki Snyder
- 10th District U.S. House candidate Anil Kumar
- 10th District U.S. House Democratic candidate Rhonda Powell
- 12th District U.S. House Democratic candidate Ryan Foster
- 12th District U.S. House Republican candidate Steven Elliott
- 12th District U.S. House Republican candidate Hassan Nehme
- 2nd District Court of Appeals candidate Lisa Neilson
- 35th District Judge candidate Maria Ruggirello
- 36th District Judge candidate Vanessa Moss
- 36th District Judge candidate Herman Griffin
- 44th District Judge candidate Belem Morales
- 3rd Circuit Judge candidate Charles Longstreet II
- 6th Circuit Judge candidate Nadine Renee Hatten
- 54th Circuit Judge candidate Hugh A. Woodrow
Friday, May 24 - Dems claim ‘potential fraud’ in Mike Rogers signatures
Democrats are renewing their call for the state Board of Canvassers to review nominating petition signatures from U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers and potentially disqualify the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
The Michigan Democratic Party and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee missed the April 30 deadline to formally challenge signatures but last week first urged the state to investigate petitions from four GOP candidates.
In a new letter released Friday, Democrats alleged "potential fraud" associated with petition sheets from 18 circulators who collected a combined 12,293 of Rogers' 30,000 signatures. They also provided declarations from six voters whose names appear on Rogers' petitions but say they never signed.
The Rogers campaign dismissed the latest Democratic letter as baseless.
"It's as illegitimate as the last one," spokesperson Chris Gustafson said in a text message to Bridge. "Democrats didn't file a legal challenge in time and are lashing out because Mike Rogers will be on the ballot and they know they can't beat him."
But Democrats contend they've identified various “errors and markers" on Rogers' petitions that are similar to fraudulent signatures that led canvassers to kick multiple GOP gubernatorial candidates off the ballot in 2022.
Among other things, the new letter questions the legitimacy of signatures from areas of the state geographically far apart, and voters listed on nominating petitions who are not registered to vote in Michigan.
“If the Board finds that any circulator submitted a fraudulent petition sheet, it should invalidate all of that circulator’s sheets—for any candidate, in addition to any signatures across the petition that are found to be invalid for other reasons,” Chris Trebilcock, an attorney representing Democrats, wrote in the letter.
Wednesday, May 22 - Senate debate canceled as Rogers, Slotkin bow out
A scheduled bipartisan U.S. Senate debate at the Mackinac Policy Conference has been canceled after top-polling candidates declined to participate, organizers announced Wednesday.
The top three polling candidates in each party were invited earlier this month to partake in a bipartisan debate May 30 on Mackinac Island as part of the annual conference that attracts politicians and the state’s top business leaders.
But the Detroit Regional Chamber said Wednesday that Republican Mike Rogers and Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin did not accept the invitation, an outcome chamber officials characterized as an unexpected and “deeply concerning” development.
“The leading candidates' refusal to engage in this vital forum… undermines our democratic process and hampers our state's progress,” chamber officials wrote in a statement. “This is a clear reflection of today’s political dynamics, which increasingly discourage candidates from directly addressing voters' concerns.”
The Slotkin campaign disputed the chamber's characterization, however, saying she had initially agreed to a debate with all six candidates but changed course after learning at "the last minute" that Rogers and fellow Republican Justin Amash would not participate.
"We have been clear that if an equally partisan debate had been arranged, we would have been happy to participate," said Austin Cook, a Slotkin campaign spokesperson.
Of the six candidates invited, only three — Republican Sandy Pensler and Democrats Hill Harper and Nasser Beydoun — agreed to participate, according to the chamber.
Tuesday, May 21 - Adam Hollier booted from ballot
Wayne County has disqualified Adam Hollier from the ballot in the 13th Congressional District Democratic primary in August, concluding he didn't submit enough valid signatures to oppose incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit.
The decision from County Clerk Cathy Garrett comes days after her staff estimated that just 863 of the 1,553 signatures Hollier submitted were valid. He needed 1,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Thanedar challenged Hollier's signatures after several appeared to be identical or erroneous. In a Monday statement, Hollier said he was "extremely disappointed."
"While I put my trust in someone who let us down in the collection of signatures, ultimately the leadership of the campaign falls on me and I must hold myself to a higher standard," Hollier said in a statement. "It is also clear that our state’s system of ballot access and petition collection is sorely in need of reform."
Hollier is a Detroiter and former state senator who was widely viewed as Thanedar's chief opponent in the overwhelmingly Democratic district. The other candidates in the Democratic primary are Detroit City Council member Mary Waters and attorney Shakira Hawkins.
Tuesday, May 21 - White House corrects Biden
The White House corrected several misstatements by President Joe Biden this week when it posted an official transcript of his Sunday campaign speech at an NAACP dinner in Detroit.
The Affordable Care Act has saved families about $800 a year in premiums, not the $8,000 Biden cited in his speech, according to the transcript, which includes strikethroughs to preserve but correct faulty comments.
Biden also claimed then-President Barack Obama sent him to Detroit to help the city during the "pandemic.” He actually meant the "recession," which the Obama administration was battling in 2009 when Biden was vice president.
Among the other mistakes: Biden misquoted GOP rival Donald Trump as saying there would be "bloodshed" if he loses the November election rematch. Trump actually used the word "bloodbath" and has said his claim was about the potential impact for the auto industry.
Friday, May 17 - Speaker Johnson raising funds in Michigan’s 7th Congressional district
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to be in Michigan this weekend, appearing at a private fundraiser in support of Tom Barrett, a Republican running in Michigan’s swing 7th Congressional district.
The event is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday at the home of west Michigan restaurateur Johnny Brann Jr., according to an invitation distributed by the 7th District Congressional Republican Committee. Tickets start at $500 per person.
Barrett, the only Republican in the race, will take on Democrat Curtis Hertel, a former colleague in the Michigan Senate, in November for a seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly.
Johnson’s visit comes the day prior to a visit from President Joe Biden, who is scheduled to receive an award at the annual NAACP dinner in Detroit on May 19, and further highlights the national attention on Michigan and its swing state status ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
— Jordyn Hermani
Friday, May 17 - Signature fiasco threatens Thanedar challenger
Former state Senator Adam Hollier does not have enough valid signatures to challenge U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar in the 13th congressional district Democratic primary, according to a new staff report from the Wayne County Clerk’s office.
The report – which is not a final ruling – could be a major blow to Hollier, who had secured some high-profile endorsements in his bid to challenge the Democratic incumbent. Staff estimated that just 863 of the 1,553 signatures Hollier submitted were valid. He needed 1,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Hollier’s campaign told The Detroit Free Press on Thursday that they are in “the process of carefully reviewing our next steps” as Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett prepares to make a final determination in coming days.
Thanedar, D-Detroit, had challenged Hollier’s signatures and told Bridge he thinks the Wayne County staff “pretty much agreed with our findings.” He said he hopes “local voters continue their trust in me” and elect him to a second term.
The challenge harkens back to the signature fraud scandal that rocked the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary, when five of 10 candidates were denied a spot on the ballot because paid circulators had falsified signatures.
— Simon Schuster
Thursday, May 16 - Kristina Karamo loses fight for Michigan GOP (again)
The court case that forced a pivotal change in Michigan Republican Party leadership effectively ended this week, but an attorney representing ousted chair Kristina Karamo said they are considering an appeal.
Circuit Court Judge Joseph Rossi on Wednesday granted summary disposition in a lawsuit that had already forced Karamo out of her state party post due to a contested vote to remove her. In a decision from the bench, Rossi also canceled a scheduled June trial.
“We're very appreciative of the hard work and diligence that the court gave this case,” said attorney Jonathan Lauderbach, who represents a faction of Karamo dissidents who took over the party. “The court was very thorough in its analysis, and arrived at a well reasoned conclusion.”
Long-simmering dissent toward Karamo culminated in a Jan. 6 meeting, where about a third of GOP state committee members used a quirk of party bylaws to remove Karamo from the role. Two weeks later the same faction met again and elected the current chair, former congressman Pete Hoekstra, to lead the party.
What followed was weeks of turmoil as the party split under two factions that both proclaimed themselves the rightful party leaders.
The lawsuit filed by Hoekstra’s faction brought a degree of resolution in late February, when Rossi issued an injunction barring Karamo from claiming to lead the party, acting as chair or using its resources.
Karamo’s attorney, the party’s one-time general counsel Dan Hartman, said Thursday they are considering an appeal at the state and federal levels.
— Simon Schuster
Wednesday, May 15 - Joe Biden, Donald Trump agree to debates
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump said Wednesday they are planning to debate on June 27 and Sept. 10. Bridge Michigan is planning to fact-check any state-related claims.
The debates — set to be hosted by CNN and ABC, respectively — will mark the first time the candidates have sparred on-stage since the 2020 campaign. It also marks a shift for Biden, who until recently was non-committal on whether he would debate Trump during the 2024 cycle.
Biden signaled his willingness to debate early Wednesday, telling Trump in a video to “pick the dates, Donald.” Less than an hour later, Trump agreed, posting to his own social media platform Truth Social that it was “time for a debate … just tell me when, I’ll be there.”
The presumed Democratic and Republican nominees are foregoing a debate schedule previously announced by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which called for four debates across September and October.
Bridge will follow and fact-check the presidential debates, continuing efforts undertaken during the 2020 election cycle to provide context and clarity for Michigan-related claims by the leading candidates for the White House.
— Jordyn Hermani
Tuesday, May 14 - Jill Biden to visit Marquette
First Lady Jill Biden is planning several stops in Michigan over the next few days, starting Thursday in Marquette.
Details are scant about her Marquette appearance, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that she and Douglas Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, will speak to tribal members at noon Friday in Sault Ste. Marie before touring the Soo Locks at 1 p.m.
Jill Biden plans to visit Midland on Friday and appear in Detroit on Saturday, according to MLive.com. On Sunday, Joe Biden plans to deliver a speech at the Detroit Branch NAACP’s Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner.
Jill Biden was in Michigan just a few weeks ago, visiting Grand Rapids in late April.
Marquette last had a presidential visit in 2011. President George W. Bush visited Marquette for a reelection campaign rally in 2004. — Simon Schuster
Tuesday, May 14 - Lisa McClain hospitalized
U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain was hospitalized for an emergency appendectomy Monday night, her office wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This unexpected medical emergency will result in her absence from Congress for the next few days,” the post said. “She is currently recovering and expects to be back soon.”
Additional information wasn’t immediately provided. — Simon Schuster
Tuesday, May 14 - Big buy planned for Senate race
A conservative group plans to spent $9.4 million on ads for the open Senate race in Michigan, which is already expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive, according to published reports.
The group, One Nation, plans to spend a total of $88 million on a “Stop the Insanity” campaign of radio, mail, TV and digital ads in contested Senate races, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Montana, POLITICO first reported on Monday.
The Michigan ads are expected to start after the August primary and will focus on inflation and immigration. One Nation is closely aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.
It’s the latest big investment in an open state that observers predict will help decide the U.S. Senate majority come fall.
In March, Senate Majority PAC, a group affiliated with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, announced plans to reserve $14 million in Michigan ad buys as part of a multi-state effort to defend the party’s majority.
Among individual candidates, Democratic front-runner Elissa Slotkin has thus far dominated fundraising in the race to succeed outgoing U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Slotkin, who currently represents mid-Michigan’s 7th Congressional District in Congress, raised $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2024 and reported $8.6 million in the bank. On the Republican side, business executive Sandy Pensler reported $2.1 million in cash on hand — most of which was self-funded — and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers raised just over $1 million over the same period.
— Lauren Gibbons
Monday, May 13 - GOP pushes absentee voting
The Michigan GOP is urging its members to add their names to the state's permanent absentee voter list, arguing Republicans “cannot afford to underestimate the strategic importance” of voting by mail in 2024.
The Monday appeal marked a notable tone shift for state Republicans, some of whom joined President Donald Trump in casting doubt on the integrity of Michigan’s absentee security measures during the 2020 presidential election.
Michigan Democrats “possess a formidable advantage” when it comes to voters on the state’s permanent absentee ballot list, outnumbering Republican sign-ups by a two-to-one ratio, the state GOP said in an email.
“This stark reality handicaps our ability to mobilize low propensity voters effectively, particularly through permanent (absentee) voting in Michigan.”
Absentee voting played a pivotal role in recent Michigan elections since voters in 2018 approved a measure to expand its use.
Roughly 1.1 million people voted absentee in the 2022 gubernatorial election, and roughly 1.8 million people voted absentee during the 2020 presidential election. Democrats performed well both years, with Trump and Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon losing their respective election bids.
— Jordyn Hermani
Friday, May 10 - Justin Amash says ‘we don’t impeach presidents enough’
Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Justin Amash spoke on X Spaces, formerly Twitter Spaces, Thursday night, criticizing fellow Republican hopeful Mike Rogers and defending his vote for then-President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
Rogers, a former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, is endorsed by Trump. But Amash criticized his past support of surveillance programs that some civil liberties advocates have called an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.
“Mike Rogers is one of those people who would stand there right alongside (South Carolina Sen.) Lindsey Graham, telling Donald Trump to go to war, (telling) Trump to sign more surveillance into law, telling Donald Trump to spend more money,” Amash said in the call.
Amash, a congressman who represented the Grand Rapids area from 2011 until 2021, declined to run for reelection in 2020 after leaving the Republican Party and voting to impeach Trump over a phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Defending the impeachment vote, he argued it was a principled stand against executive authority he would have taken under Obama or Biden, too.
"I believe that all of the past three presidents have committed impeachable offenses, and in fact, what I think is a big problem in our system right now is that we don't impeach presidents enough,” Amash said. "I've always been very strongly against executive abuse. And that shouldn't be surprising. I'm a libertarian.”
He said he viewed Trump’s request to Zelenskyy that he investigate now-President Joe Biden’s family “as some kind of attempt at getting a personal benefit."
Amash is one of four candidates running in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. He’s facing Rogers, physician Sherry O’Donnell and businessman Sandy Pensler.
In a recent poll from The Hill/Emerson, Amash had just 7% support from likely voters, compared to Rogers’ 32% and Pensler’s 2%. O’Donnell did not register and 54% were undecided with a 4.1% margin of error.
If elected, Amash said he would readily break with Trump on issues where he disagrees.
"I don't know if I've changed my opinion on Trump,” he said. “It's sort of settled into my mind who he is. I think that there are good aspects and there are bad aspects. My view as a senator (is) I will support what he's doing when he's doing the right thing." — Simon Schuster
Wednesday May 8 - First U.S. Senate debate set for Mackinac Policy Conference
Michigan’s first 2024 U.S. Senate debate will take place May 30 at the Mackinac Policy Conference, the Detroit Regional Chamber announced Wednesday.
The debate, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. May 30, will be bipartisan, and invites have been extended to the top three polling candidates from each party, Sandy Baruah, president and chief executive officer of the Detroit Regional Chamber, said during a Wednesday morning press conference.
The debate moderators are Rick Albin of WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids and Devin Scillian of WDIV-TV in Detroit.
Baruah said the debate format is unique in that candidates from both parties will be onstage at the same time, and “really pushes candidates to a broad audience as opposed to speaking to their base voters.”
Republican Mike Rogers among U.S. Senate candidates invited to bipartisan debate at the Mackinac Policy Conference. (Bridge file photo)
All three Democratic candidates — U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, actor Hill Harper and business executive Nasser Beydoun — are eligible to participate.
Invited Republican candidates include former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Justin Amash and business executive Sandy Pensler. A fourth Republican candidate, Sherry O’Donnell, is not eligible to participate under debate rules.
— Lauren Gibbons
Wednesday May 8 - Ottawa Impact member recalled in defeat for ultraconservative faction
Ottawa Impact received its first electoral defeat Tuesday after a member of the ultraconservative faction of county commissioners was defeated in a recall election.
Democrat Chris Kleinjans bested incumbent Republican Lucy Ebel, earning 60% of the vote in a special election that saw 20% turnout in what has been a reliably conservative county, according to unofficial election results.
“The voters of District 2 made it clear that they reject the chaos, fiscal irresponsibility, and disrespect for county employees that exemplify Lucy Ebel and Ottawa Impact’s style of government, and I will work every day to turn that around,” Kleinjans said in a statement.
He called the election “a referendum on Ottawa Impact.”
Ottawa Impact candidates took control of the county commission in 2023, when eight of nine Ottawa Impact-backed candidates were elected to the 11-member commission, running on a platform that assailed COVID-19 restrictions and leaned into the culture wars.
The group’s tenure has been marked by acrimony and turmoil, as a monthslong effort to fire the county public health director because of her pandemic restrictions failed and the commission faces a lawsuit brought by the county administrator they hired in their first meeting and fired in March, John Gibbs.
Ottawa Impact’s supermajority lasted only three months after Jacob Bonnema broke away from the slate, dissatisfied with what he called a lack of transparency. He was later censured and removed from a committee leadership position.
Another Ottawa Impact member, Rebekah Curran, is running for U.S. Senate and didn’t file for reelection. She did not submit required signatures to qualify for the Senate GOP primary, however, after raising less than $3,000 for her senate bid, according to the latest campaign finance disclosures.
Ebel, who still is set to appear in the August 6 primary election, would have to win back her seat from Kleinjans for the faction to retain an outright majority on the commission. All Ottawa Impact members face Republican primary challengers.
— Simon Schuster
Tuesday, May 7 - Nessel slams Trump over abortion comments
With the presidential election approaching, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and other Democrats continue to warn reproductive rights may be jeopardized under presumed Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Trump has "no interest in protecting women" or abortion access, Nessel claimed Tuesday in Lansing at a coffee shop event organized by President Joe Biden's re-election campaign.
With Trump, “really, anything goes when it comes to persecuting women for having the audacity … to reproduce,” Nessel added.
Her critique came after Trump appeared to backpedal on comments he made regarding states possibly monitoring women’s pregnancies to track whether they had an abortion.
"They might do that," Trump initially told Time Magazine, before attempting to walk back that suggestion this weekend on his Truth Social website.
“After 50 years, Abortion is now up to the States," Trump wrote Sunday.
Nessel was joined Tuesday by two women denied abortions in Texas and Louisiana, which barred the procedure after Trump nominees on the U.S. Supreme Court helped overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“What I went through was nothing short of barbaric … this is directly the result of Donald Trump,” said Amanda Zurawski of Texas, who said she nearly died when she was forced to deliver a stillborn girl after going into septic shock.
Under Texas’ narrow abortion law, doctors cannot utilize abortion until a woman’s life is considered in danger. Even after the birth, Zurawski said she went into sepsis again and spent three days in intensive care.
— Jordyn Hermani
Monday, May 6 - Whitmer, Thanedar take heat over Israel-Hamas war
A courtesy photo of a defaced sign of U.S. Representative Shri Thanedar.
Two high-profile Michigan Democrats faced public criticism this weekend as pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue to call for an immediate end to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Video widely shared on social media appeared to show protesters confronting Whitmer at the Bobcat Bonnie’s restaurant in Ypsilanti, where they waved Palestinian flags, chanted and played drums.
Whitmer’s office declined to comment on the incident, and the restaurant did not respond to requests for more information.
The governor does not control foreign policy, but she is a co-chair of Democratic President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. Shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, Whitmer spoke at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield and said, “We stand with Israel. And Israel has a right to defend itself.” Later that month, she canceled a visit to a mosque in Dearborn.
Whitmer has since declined to weigh in on calls for a permanent ceasefire, or say whether she’d characterize the conflict as a genocide, suggesting it is a term "used to inflame and divide us."
Separately, a Detroit community center sponsored by and named after Thanedar, was tagged with pro-Palestinian graffiti over the weekend, the first-term congressman said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The phrases “ceasefire” and “free Palestine” were scrawled on a wall and horns were drawn on a photo of Thanedar, who previously has called for an end to the conflict.
“I support efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, which must begin with Hamas releasing all hostages and Hamas's military infrastructure being dismantled,” Thanedar said in a February statement.
“Alongside this, we must ensure humanitarian aid reaches the Palestinian people directly, differentiating their plight from the actions of Hamas.”
More than 34,700 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the war, which began after Hamas militants entered Israel and killed close to 1,200 people in October. Israeli leaders have vowed to continue the fight until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages taken in the October raids released.
Outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Detroit Monday, protestors calling for a ceasefire were reportedly blocked from getting close to the event by Detroit police officers.
— Simon Schuster
Friday, May 3 - Whitmer calls 'baloney' on Trump abortion stance
Voters “cannot trust anything that Donald Trump says when it comes to abortion,” Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer claimed during a Flint roundtable this week, panning recent comments Trump made on the subject as “baloney.”
Whitmer’s critique came the same day Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, rallied at MBS International Airport in Michigan’s highly competitive Saginaw County. As part of that stop, Trump thanked the U.S. Supreme Court “for the wisdom and the courage” to overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1973 court decision which previously established precedent for abortion access.
Trump has long danced around the topic of enacting a federal abortion ban, recently telling Time Magazine that there “will never be that chance” as it’s unlikely the move has enough votes to clear the U.S. Senate. Last month, he said states should decide the issue.
Trump allies, however, are reportedly developing plans to try to restrict abortion nationwide, calling for things like enforcing a 19th century law that could make mailing abortion pills illegal.“No one should take any comfort” in Trump saying he won’t have the chance to sign a national abortion ban “because he doesn't have 60 votes in the Senate,” Whitmer told reporters from WNEM-TV and other outlets Wednesday. “Baloney.”
In his recent Time interview, Trump also said it was “totally irrelevant” where he stood on possibly prosecuting women for having abortions in states with restrictive bans.
“I think they might do that,” Trump said when asked about actions states with bans could take, such as monitoring a woman’s pregnancy. But he again reiterated that it didn’t matter what he thought of the idea, “because the states are going to make those decisions.” — Jordyn Hermani
Friday, May 3 - Signature dispute imperils Thanedar challenger
Democratic U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar is alleging that more than half the nominating signatures of his most prominent primary opponent, former state Sen. Adam Hollier, are invalid.
Hollier needs 1,000 voter signatures from within the Detroit-based 13th congressional district to qualify for the ballot. But a consultant hired by Thanedar contends just 761 of the 1,555 signatures Hollier submitted are valid.
In a complaint to election officials, Thanedar’s campaign argued most signatures on the petitions collected by paid circulators are either duplicated, from ineligible signers, have inaccurate voter information or hadn’t been filled out correctly by the petition circulator. Some pages of signatures look strikingly similar.
The challenge harkens back to the signature fraud scandal that rocked the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary, when five of 10 candidates were denied a spot on the ballot because paid circulators had falsified signatures.
“As responsible stewards of the democratic process, we cannot allow such discrepancies to go unaddressed and have asked Wayne County Clerk’s office to investigate,” Thanedar campaign wrote in a press release.
Hollier told the Detroit Free Press that voters “should be deeply frustrated that their Congressmember is trying to disenfranchise their ability to vote.”
But a columnist at the Free Press found the name of her colleague, reporter Tresa Baldas, among the allegedly falsified signatures — and Baldas insisted she has never signed a petition.
Thanedar was first elected to Congress in 2022, coming first in a nine-candidate primary field with 28.3% of the vote, with Hollier less than 4,000 votes behind him in the heavily Democratic district. Four primary candidates including Hollier have announced campaigns to challenge him this year. — Simon Schuster
Wednesday, May 1 - Trump bashes criminal charges in rally
FREELAND — Fighting criminal charges that threaten his comeback campaign, former President Donald Trump on Wednesday used a Michigan speech to suggest he is facing harsher treatment than notorious mobster Al Capone.
“Has anyone ever heard about him?,” Trump said of Capone, the Chicago-based crime boss who purportedly had several hideouts throughout Michigan.
“He would kill people if he looked at them and didn’t like them … He got indicted less than I did.”
Capone, however, was actually indicted on more than 5,000 violations under the prohibition-era Volstead Act, according to federal records.
Chris Cooper of Freeland and Pat Fairbrother of Cadillac load a life-sized cutout of former President Donald Trump into their vehicle in preparation for Wednesday's rally at MBS International Airport in Freeland. (Bridge photo by Dale Young)
Trump's campaign rally in Saginaw County came amid a New York "hush money" trial focused on allegations he used campaign funds to keep an adult film star from going public with adultery allegations ahead of the 2016 election.
Related: Trump warns of tax hikes, EV doom in Michigan rally. Here are the facts
Judge Juan M. Merchan on Tuesday declared Trump in contempt of court for making critical statements of jurors and witnesses in the case. Another hearing is expected Thursday.
Trump is also battling federal charges for his alleged role in a plot to overturn 2020 election results in swing states like Michigan, along with related criminal charges in Georgia.
Trump vehemently denied wrongdoing during his Michigan speech and criticized what he called "fake cases."
— Lauren Gibbons
Wednesday, May 1 - Trump supporters flood Saginaw County
FREELAND — Former President Donald Trump has drawn thousands of enthusiastic fans to Saginaw County for his latest Michigan rally. His allies say it’s a sign the former president’s momentum is building as he fights to retake the White House in November.
Supporters descended onto the Avflight hangar at MBS International Airport in Freeland on Wednesday, enjoying warm, sunny weather and the festival-like atmosphere typical of the former president’s rallies: MAGA merchandise booths, food trucks hawking hot dogs and prominent Republicans making the case for Trump.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump prepare for his rally in Freeland, Michigan. (Bridge photo by Dale Young)
“People are recognizing things were better under Donald Trump,” Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra told Bridge Michigan ahead of the former president’s speech. “There's no doubt that one of the things that's really fueling momentum is the chaos that we're seeing with Joe Biden.”
Warm-up speeches at the Trump rally featured several current and former Michigan Republican candidates, including U.S. Senate hopeful Mike Rogers, state lawmakers and Tudor Dixon, who unsuccessfully challenged Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the 2022 election.
Citing immigration issues, high inflation and global unrest, they stressed Michigan’s importance in the coming election, arguing flipping the swing state would be key to ending Biden’s tenure.
“We are going to work together to do something that Democrats don't believe that we can do: win the state of Michigan,” Rogers said.
— Lauren Gibbons
Wednesday, May 1 - Biden heading back to Detroit
President Joe Biden is headed to Detroit on May 19 for the 2024 NAACP Detroit Branch Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner. The event, which typically draws about 10,000 people to Huntington Place convention center, plans to honor Biden with a lifetime achievement award.
Related: Biden returning to Michigan for NAACP dinner in Detroit
It will be Biden’s third visit to Michigan this year and comes as polling shows he is in a tough race with former President Donald Trump in the state. Some African-American leaders also warned that Biden and fellow Democrats cannot take their votes for granted this November.
Biden visited Saginaw, a majority-Black city, in March. — Simon Schuster
Tuesday, April 30 - MBS Airport expects big crowd for Trump
DETROIT — President Donald Trump is set to host a rally in mid-Michigan on Wednesday, prompting condemnation on Tuesday from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, union leaders and other Democratic officials over labor issues.
During a media event at IBEW Local 58 in Detroit, Duggan touted the Biden administration’s efforts to incorporate union workers into clean energy jobs and argued Detroit is helped by a president “who sees the world through the eyes of folks trying to make a good living every day.”
Trump, the presumed Republican nominee for the presidency, is slated to return to Michigan Wednesday at MBS International Airport in Saginaw County, a union-heavy swing county that has voted for the winning presidential candidate in every general election since 2008.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan during at IBEW Local 58 in Detroit. (Bridge photo by Lauren Gibbons)
Trump rallied at the airport during his 2020 campaign, and officials expect crowds of 10,000 to 15,000 on Wednesday. Doors open at 2 p.m. and Trump is expected to speak at 6 p.m.
Airport officials told WNEM-TV 5 they expect traffic jams for miles.
Biden, the presumed Democratic nominee, previously campaigned in the city of Saginaw in March at a private organizing meeting with supporters.
Both candidates are backing on strong support of blue-collar workers, with Biden touting the endorsement of several unions, while Trump last year came to Michigan during the UAW strike to appeal to autoworkers.
Pat Devlin of the Michigan Building Trades Council argued that Michigan’s blue-collar workers wouldn’t be wooed by Trump this time around.
“Donald Trump made promises he couldn’t keep,” Devlin said Tuesday. “He made America weaker and hurt our workers.” — Lauren Gibbons
Tuesday, April 30 - Academic, business leaders seek three U.S. Senate debates
A coalition of universities, business groups and community organizations are proposing three general election debates aimed at giving voters more unfiltered air time with candidates.
The newly-formed Michigan Debate Task Force plans to host general election debates in west Michigan, northern Michigan and southeast Michigan in September and October, focusing on both statewide and region-specific issues.
The goal is to shake up how debates are handled in Michigan, where candidates’ campaigns determine the logistics and “hold all the cards,” said David Dulio, political science professor and director of Oakland University’s Center for Civic Engagement.
“What we want to do is take that out of the equation and say, ‘Here are three chances that the entire state can hear from you, and we think you ought to take the voters up on that,’” said Dulio, a lead organizer of the task force.
The group hopes to expand public debate offerings for statewide races in future cycles, including 2026’s gubernatorial election.
— Lauren Gibbons
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